Cannelloni

Cannelloni

Ingredients:

Cannelloni

Béchamel sauce

3 Tablespoons olive oil

½ kilo ground beef

2 cloves garlic (finely chopped)

2 white onion (finely chopped)

1 teaspoon ground cumin seeds

1 ½ cup tomato sauce

4 fresh tomatoes (finely chopped)

2 carrots (finely chopped)

1 red pepper (finely chopped)

Salt and pepper

Grated cheese

Parsley (finely chopped)

Basil (finely chopped)

To prepare filling:

Heat oil in a pan and sauté garlic and onion. Cook until translucent. Add fresh tomatoes, mix thoroughly, and cook until tomatoes are wilted. Add ground beef and cumin. Mix vigorously to get rid of lumps; continue cooking until almost all the liquid has evaporated. Add carrots, pepper and tomato sauce. Bring to boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat and set aside.

To prepare Cannelloni:

Boil 1 liter of water. Add 1 teaspoon of salt and 2 Tablespoons of oil. Add cannelloni and simmer until cannelloni is done. Taking care not to over cook them as the easily split when filled if overcooked. Strain with a strainer, place under running cold water. Drizzle with oil and mix carefully without breaking each. Set aside one by one with greased plate.

To prepare béchamel sauce:

4 Tablespoons flour

1 cup milk

2 Tablespoons butter

2 cloves garlic

1 white onion

Bring to boil milk ,onion and garlic. Let stand for 10 minutes. Pass through a sift to get rid of garlic and onion. Discard garlic and onion and keep the milk. Heat butter in a small pan over low heat. When butter has melted, add flour 1 Tablespoon flour and mix vigorously until it forms a paste. Add milk little by little alternately with flour, whilst mixing vigorously to avoid lumps. Continue stirring until all the flour and milk has been added. Remove from heat and set aside.

To assemble:

Carefully fill each piece of cannelloni with cooked meat. Spoon béchamel sauce in an oven dish and arrange the filled cannelloni. Add grated cheese on top and bake at low temperature for 10 minutes or until cheese has melted. Garnish with chopped fresh parsley and basil before serving.