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    Monday, July 12, 2010

    Ah Fresh Pasta

    I watched Rick Stein make this Leek Cannelloni
    Of course to make it easier, just buy Cannelloni Tubes.
    I decided to go all out and make fresh pasta. It really is so easy and very good.
    Lovely colour, lovely fresh eggs.
    There are a few components to this dish, but really one can multi-task and have them all going at once.

    I spent a little bit of time in getting the flavours right and it paid off.
    An excellent dish.
    I thought it was a good entry for Ruth at Onceuponafeast
    She has been running a weekly blogging event called Presto Pasta Nights
    for the last couple of years.

     
    This week it will be hosted by Pam at Sidewalk Shoes Have a look here next Saturday
    So. You need to make
    Tomato Sauce
    Leek and Cannelloni filling
    And Cheese sauce

    If you want to make the pasta have a look here
    Scroll down the post and use the Recipe in the food processor... very simple and quick
    For your shopping list you will need the ingredients below
    200 gms flour
    2 whole eggs and 1 egg yolk
    Pinch salt
    Drizzle of Extra Virgin Olive oil
     It is great fun but if you can't be bothered just Go Shopping and buy
     Cannelloni Tubes.

    So for the Tomato Sauce

    2 tablespoons Olive oil
    1 med onion peeled and chopped
    2 clove garlic peeled and finely chopped
    2 cans tomatoes
    Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
    1 tsp dried oregano
    1/2 teaspoon red chili flakes
    2 tablespoon sugar
    4 tablespoons white wine vinegar


    Heat a pan over med heat  add olive oil
    Add onions and garlic
    Cook gently till translucent and tender
    Add tomatoes, break them up
    Season with S & P, oregano and Red Chili flakes
    Bring to boil and simmer gently till reduced by half

    Meanwhile in a small pan heat vinegar and sugar
    Bring to boil and reduce till syrupy

    Add to reduced tomato mix
    Simmer again for about 5 minutes
    Taste and test for seasoning adjust if necessary
    Put to one side


    Leek and Ricotta Filling
    2 tablespoons unsalted butter
    3 leeks cleaned washed and finely chopped
    250 gms ricotta
    Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
    3 sprigs thyme, leaves removed and chopped
    Little water

    In another pan saute leeks gently in butter
    Add garlic,  S & P and thyme
    Add a little water and cook gently till soft.
    Cool
    Add to ricotta and mix well
    Taste and once again adjust if necessary


    Cheese Sauce
    3 tbs unsalted butter
    3 tbs plain flour
    3 cups milk
    1 small onion
    5 cloves
    2 bay leaves
    8  black pepper corns


    1 cup grated tasty cheese
    1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

    An extra cup of grated cheese for the topping

    Peel and stud the onion with the cloves
    Put into the milk along with the bay leaves and peppercorns
    Warm through don't boil, strain
    Meanwhile
    Add butter to a pot
    Melt and add flour and season with a little salt
    Stir and cook for about 4 minutes to cook the flour out
    Slowly add hot strained milk stirring all the time
    We don't want lumps

    When all the milk is added, let simmer for about 4 minutes
    keep stirring so it won't catch on the bottom.
    Take off the heat add cheese
    Stir well taste and adjust seasoning if needed


    So now we are ready to assemble
    Heat oven to 200C
    If you are using the fresh pasta on my blog

    cut into squares and fill with filling otherwise
    follow the manufacturers instructions, cook the tubes and fill

    Roll up
    For that amount of Pasta you will get about 14 squares

    In a gratin dish
    Place a good layer of tomato sauce
    Then put filled cannelloni on top of sauce

    The cover with cheese sauce

    Sprinkle extra cheese on top
    Place in hot oven and bake till bubbly and golden brown on top About 45 minutes


    Serve with a nice salad.
    This Caesar Salad is pretty good

    Just make the following dressing

    2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
    2 tablespoons red wine vinegar, plus more for dressing the salad
    4 garlic cloves
    4 anchovy filets
    1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil, or as needed
    1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
    1 hard boiled egg yolk
    ! teaspoon salt
    ! teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
    Freshly ground pepper
    1 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese,
    plus a block of Parmigiano Reggiano for shaving


    Combine Vinegar, Lemon juice garlic and anchovies in a food processor
    Blend till smooth adding some of the 1/3 cup of olive oil
    Add the mustard. hard boiled egg yolk Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper
    and the remaining olive oil

    Blend until smooth and creamy

    Make some croutons.

    These are really simple
    Just cube some good white bread and pop naked into a 170C oven
    Leave them to dry out and turn just golden.
    Remove and pop into an airtight jar.
    They should keep for a few days like this.
    You can always pop them back into a 170C oven for a few minutes to refresh

    The you will need some Cos/Romaine Lettuce
    Break into bowl in large chunks
    Throw over the croutons
    Grated Parmesan cheese and toss with enough dressing to coat the leaves

    Some shavings of Parmesan over the top.

    Niiiice

    5 comments:

    pam said...

    Thanks for entering! It sounds wonderful!

    Ruth Daniels said...

    Definitely a keeper for when the weather cools off. Even early mornings are hot, so boiling water is on hold ;-0

    Thanks for sharing this with Presto Pasta Nights.

    The Food Hunter said...

    YUM!! I'm a sucker for fresh pasta.

    TeaLady said...

    This looks quite tasty. I love making my own pasta. Just got the 'machine' and it makes it soooo easy. Now I have no excuse NOT to make cannelloni.

    Thanks so much for coming by for a visit.

    Suzy said...

    Looks fantastic. A pasta machine is on my list of things I need.