Karin Desveaux’s Beef Cannelloni
The majority of my culinary inspiration comes from the seasons and what is available locally. I chose this recipe because the ingredients came together in a serendipitous kind of way. On a Friday afternoon, some dear friends showed up at my door with a sack of morel mushrooms they had just foraged on a hike; they wanted to know how to clean them, and what to make with them. I already had some of the first asparagus and the last wild leeks of the season in my fridge, so I immediately knew two things: one, we were going to have a dinner party the next night, and two, these precious ingredients would be the topper for some super silky cannelloni. Pasta is one of my favourite things to cook and teach, so it was natural for me to select a pasta dish. This recipe would make 6-8 servings, depending on size.
Yield: about 26pcs
Ingredients:
800g ground beef
1 large onion
1 small carrot
1 stalk celery
I clove garlic
350ml homo milk
350ml white wine
1.5 litres chicken stock
100g flour
100g butter (+ more for the bottom of the baking dish)
Handful fresh thyme sprigs
250g fresh pasta dough
200g Parmesan, grated
200g grated mozzarella
Olive oil, salt and pepper as needed
Garnish:
400g fresh asparagus
400g morels
1 bunch wild leeks
Method:
Using 1/2 the onion, chop finely in food processor along with the carrot and celery to make a sofrito.
Soften the sofrito in olive oil over medium heat, seasoning with salt and pepper.
Add the beef to brown, breaking it up very finely with a spoon, season with salt and pepper.
Add the milk, reduce completely. Add the wine, reduce completely. Cool the mixture.
To make the veloute, dice the other half of the onion. Sweat over medium heat in 100g butter. Add the flour to make a blonde roux, stirring constantly, until it smells like shortbread cookies and is beige in colour. Whisk in the chicken stock gradually and add the fresh thyme sprigs. Simmer, whisking often, until thickened to coating consistency. Strain the veloute sauce and season with salt and pepper.
Roll the pasta dough thinly and cut into 3 x 5” rectangles (about 26 pieces). Blanch the pasta sheets in salted boiling water for 30-60 seconds.
Lay the pasta sheets out, working with 5-6 at a time. Sprinkle with Parmesan, mozzarella, chopped wild leek greens and beef mixture, pressing the mixture to flatten it out. Roll each piece of pasta tightly “jelly roll style” (into a spiral of filling and pasta), placing the rolls into a buttered, oven proof baking dish, seam side down. Nestle tightly.
When ready to cook, top with hot veloute and bake at 375F for 20 minutes until bubbling and slightly browned.
Meanwhile, sauté the asparagus, morels and wild leek bottoms (whites) in olive oil in batches seasoning with salt and pepper.
Sprinkle the wild leeks, asparagus and morel mixture over top of the cannelloni and serve at once.