Monday 1 April - Cannelloni filled with Onion, Sausage and Asparagus

I had spotted ricotta in Lidl this week, and while searching for a recipe for Cannelloni with spinach and ricotta I spotted this unusual recipe in an old book I have 'Pasta Classica'.

It involved quite a lot of work, but as it was a Bank Holiday I had time on my hands.

The first stage was the tomato sauce - this was made with tinned tomatoes as the fresh ones are rubbish at the moment. celery and carrots were added to the recipe, and once cooked it was pushed through the mouli to make a smooth sauce. Half of this was placed at the bottom of the serving dish.

The pasta was rolled out in a pasta machine and cut into squares, which were then cooked for a couple of minutes and left to drain.

 

The filling was made with skinned sausages - we found these in Asda, and have them quite often as they are delicious.

The sausage was fried with some onions, then sliced button mushrooms were added. After a bit more frying blanched sliced asparagus was added along with some grated parmesan.

This filling was fried for a few more minutes, and then used to fill the pasta squares which were then rolled up and placed in the serving dish.

 

When all the pasta was filled, another smear of tomato sauce went on top of them.

 

Finally bechamel sauce over the top - the only change I made to the orginal recipe was to add some grated parmesan to this sauce.

It was then baked in the oven until golden.

This was served with some salad and crusty bread. Everyone cleared their plates, but one for a special occasion due to the time involved.