You just know it's going to be something delicious when chef Enrico Tomelleri drops into the markets to pick up some cheese and fresh ingredients. The flavours behind Enrico's venues, Paski in Sydney, and Casa in Perth, are on full display with this comforting pasta dish. Designed to be shared with a bottle of wine and friends, it's unctuously rich, yet celebrates the freshness of vegetables. This recipe has quite a few steps involving making fresh pasta, a filling, assembling the dish, and finally baking. So save yourself a Sunday morning, roll up your sleeves, and embrace this fantastic ode to old school Italian cooking!
FOR THE PASTA:
180g Soft Four
3 Free Range Eggs
1 Tbsp Sea Salt
FOR THE BÉCHAMEL:
1L Full Cream Milk
100g Whey Butter
80g Flour
1/2 tsp Nutmeg, finely grated
FOR THE FILLING:
500g Lamb (loin and/or leg) cut into 5mm dice
200g Mortadella, optional
200g Parmigiano Reggiano
200g Scamorza Affumicata
1 Free Range Egg
1 clove Garlic
1 spring of Thyme
5 Mint leaves
1 sprig Rosemary
100mL Beer
1 small bunch Silverbeet
100g Broad Beans
TO MAKE THE PASTA
1. For the pasta place the flour on a board and make a well in the centre, crack the eggs in to it. Beat the eggs with a fork until smooth.
2. Using the tips of your finger mix the eggs with the flour until everything is well combined.
3. Knead the pieces of dough together to give you one big smooth lump of dough. Wrap in clingfilm and rest for an hour in the fridge.
TO MAKE THE BÉCHAMEL
1. Melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Stir in the flour and cook, stirring constantly, until the paste cooks and bubbles a bit, but don’t let it brown, about 2 minutes.
2. Add the hot milk, continuing to stir as the sauce thickens. Bring it to a boil.
3. Season with salt, pepper and the nutmeg, lower the heat, and cook, stirring for 2 to 3 minutes more. Remove from the heat. (To cool this sauce for later use, cover it with wax paper or pour a film of milk over it to prevent a skin from forming.)
TO MAKE THE FILLING
1. Heat some olive oil in a heavy bottomed pan, add the garlic and cook till golden brown. Add the meat, season well and sear for a couple of minutes making sure to stir frequently getting some colour all over the lamb.
2. Add the beer and the herbs and continue cooking for 3-4 minutes.
3. Dice the mortadella and chop it with a knife together with the lamb. Add the parmesan and the egg and mix well.
4. Blanch the silverbeet in salted water for one minute. Chop them in 1/2 centimetres pieces and add to the mix.
5. Pod the broad beans, blanch in salted water for a minute and chill them in iced water. Peel them and keep aside for later.
TO ASSEMBLE THE CANNELLONI
1. Take the pasta from the fridge, divide it in half and start to roll it out with the pasta roller until you get sheets that are 2 mm thick.
2. Cut it into 6 x 30cm rectangles that you will blanch one by one for a few seconds in a saucepan with salted water.
3. Roll out the sheets on a cloth, stuff them with a little filling and roll them upon themselves.
4. Butter a baking pan, arrange the cannelloni one at a time, place a few pieces of Scamorza Affumicata all over, add some broad beans and cover with béchamel sauce.
5. Sprinkle with parmigiano reggiano, place some knobs of butter on top, and bake at 170°C for 15 minutes.
