Spinach & Mushroom Cannelloni

I have never made a cannelloni. Its been on my to-do list for a while now.

So I made it this week and it was really delicious! I never knew it would turn out so good!!

The best part is it is healthy and colourful! A meal in itself.. If you like lasagne you will undoubtedly like this.

Cannelloni is simply a thick tubular pasta with a filling inside and sauces outside. Alternatively, lasagne rolled like thick cigars/rolls with filling inside is the same as the ready made tubular ones! This is baked just like lasagne! Lasagne follows layering, these are rolls, rest remains the same!

So lets start with it!

Serves: 2 Preparation Time: 20 mins Cooking Time: 20 mins

Ingredients:

For the Creamy Cheese Sauce (1 cup):

1 heaped tbsp of butter

1 tbsp of maida/all purpose flour or sifted wheat flour

¾ cup milk

2-3 tbsp of fresh cream (store bought), I used Amul's

3 tbsp grated cheese, cheddar (preferably parmesan)

½ tsp ground nutmeg/jaiphal

salt & pepper as per taste

For the Rustic Tomato Sauce (1 cup):

2 tomatoes, blanched and puréed 

2 tbsp celery, finely chopped

3 tbsp carrots, finely chopped

2 tbsp garlic, finely chopped

3 tbsp onion, finely chopped

4-5 basil leaves, finely chopped

1 tbsp oregano

2 tbsp olive oil

salt and pepper as per taste

For the Spinach & Mushroom Filling:

1 cup spinach leaves (¾ bunch or 150 gms), washed, blanched & shredded

1 cup button mushrooms, sliced

2 tbsp garlic, finely chopped

1 tbsp olive oil

salt & pepper as per taste  

For the Cannelloni:

4 Lasagne sheets, home-made or store bought
4 cups water

2 tbsp oil

salt as per taste

For Garnish:

2 tbsp Mozzarella cheese, grated

1 tbsp finely chopped parsley

Method:

For the Cannelloni:

1. Take the water in a sufficiently deep and wide vessel and bring it to a boil. Once boiling, add 1 tbsp oil and enough salt. Then add in 4 lasagne sheets.

2. Follow the cooking instructions on the packet, usually 8-10 mins. Once cooked, immediately drain it and apply the balance 1 tbsp oil and leave aside.

For the Creamy Cheese Sauce:

1. Heat the butter in a pan. Once melted, add the sifted flour and cook for 30 -45 secs.

2. Now add the milk to this mixture IN 3 PARTS to avoid lumps while stirring continuously.

3. Once the milk has uniformly integrated with the flour and butter and thick, you can now add the cream, cheese,  salt, pepper and nutmeg.

4. Let this cook for about a minute and leave it aside.

You may preheat the oven at 200°C for 15 mins now.


For the Spinach & Mushroom Filling:

1. Chop the veggies and keep aside.

 

2. Heat the oil in a pan. Add the garlic and sauté for 45 secs. Mix in the blanched spinach and mushrooms. Stir well.

3. Add salt and pepper and let it cook. Mushrooms will start giving out water. Cook it until almost all the water is gone.

4. Now add about 3 tbsp of our creamy cheese sauce to this mixture and mix well.

5. Get it off heat and keep aside.

For the Rustic Tomato Sauce:

1. Chop the veggies and keep them ready.

2. Heat the olive oil in a pan. Once hot, add the garlic and onions. Sauté for 45 secs.

3. Now add in the carrots and celery. Let it cook for about 2 mins until soft.

4. Now add in the basil and tomato purée.Let it cook for 3 mins. Then proceed to adding oregano, salt and pepper. Cook for more 2 mins.

5. The colour of the sauce would have changed by now. Get it off heat and keep aside.

Assembling the Cannelloni:

Remember to preheat the oven at 200°C for 15 mins before you assemble.

1. Now in a baking dish, place a few basil leaves randomly (optional). Then spread a generous layer of the rustic tomato sauce.

2. Divide the filling into 4 equal portions. In a separate plate or a flat surface, place one lasagne sheet and place one portion of the filling at either end of the sheet. Carefully roll and place it on the sauce in the baking dish. Repeat with the remaining 3 lasagne sheets.

3. Once all have been placed, spread the remaining creamy cheese sauce covering the cannelloni. Sprinkle some grated mozzarella cheese and bake for 10 -12 mins at 180°C.

4. Once ready just sprinkle some chopped parsley and serve.

Enjoy!!

Notes & Tips:

1. For Jains:

• The creamy cheese sauce remains as it is.
• In the rustic tomato sauce, you may omit the onions and garlic. Celery and carrots too. Instead just add 1-2 bay leaf, tomato purée  basil (7-8) and 1 tbsp mix herbs (oregano, parsley, thyme, rosemary etc.) Let it boil for 3-5 mins and keep aside.
• For the Spinach filling, instead of garlic add ½ tsp finely chopped ginger. You may substitute mushrooms for ¾ cup boiled corn kernels.
• Proceed as it is!

2. Alternatively, spinach can be combined with cottage cheese or corn.

3. I boiled the lasagne in the same water that I used for blanching the spinach! 

4. The creamy cheese sauce is similar to our regular white sauce. We just add in the cheese and fresh cream to make it richer!

Leave your experiences in the comments section! I'd love to know how did you like it!

Creamy Mushroom Soup

I have tried variety of mushroom soups at all sorts of restaurants but I haven't come across a single recipe that I wanna go back and try! Most often they are thin or watery, milky, oily or just okayish giving that incomplete feeling.

I love mushrooms! It had been a while having made or had mushroom soup.. So after a lot of surfing, reading and trying various recipes, I made this delicious creamy mushroom soup for all the mushroom lovers like me! 

The cooking time is longer than most methods but it is simple and well worth the taste!

Serves 4. Preparation Time: 10 mins. Cooking Time: 20-30 mins

Ingredients:

For Soup:
300 - 400gms (3 cups) button mushrooms, sliced
1 shallot or onion small, thinly sliced
2 tbsp chopped garlic
3-4 tbsp butter
½ cup cream or milk
1 heaped spoon of wheat flour 
4 cups vegetable stock or water
Salt & Pepper as per taste

For Garnish:
Grated Cheese as required

Method:

1. Firstly, thoroughly clean the mushrooms of all the dirt, mud etc under running water. Now thinly slice them all. I also finely chopped some mushrooms and kept it aside.

2. Thinly slice the shallot and finely chop the garlic. 

3. In a pan, melt all the butter. Once melted, add the sliced mushrooms to it and mix well. 

The pot may look full, but in a few seconds the mushrooms will start oozing out the moisture and reduce in size. 

3. Let it sit on heat for about 10-15 mins. It will leave out all the water and we need to wait until all the water is dried out. Please note that this needs to be done on a slow flame.

4. Once all the water is dried out and the mushrooms are darker, we now add the onions & garlic and let them cook with some salt for about 2-3 mins until soft. 

5. Once sautéed, we now mix in the wheat flour and mix it well and cook it for 2 mins to make sure the flour is not raw. 

6. The flour will get slightly brownish - a sign that it has cooked. We now mix in ½ to ¾ cup stock or water. It should look something like this:

7. Get it off heat and blend this mixture into a smooth purée. 

     

8. Now get it back on the stove and mix in the balance stock/water. Add cream or milk, salt, pepper and the chopped mushrooms. Let it simmer for 2 mins and its ready to serve!

 

Garnish with grated cheese & serve hot! Enjoy!

Notes & Tips:

1. I like it thick, so the quantity of stock/water can be used accordingly. 

2. You may also add some fresh thyme sprigs with step 3. But make sure to remove them before adding flour. 

3. I have used wheat flour for nutritional reasons, you may very well use all purpose flour/maida. It doesn't make much difference to the taste.

4. If you have fresh parsley, you can use that for garnish and add some chopped bits to the soup for additional flavour.

5. I had access to button mushrooms only, but you can add other types - portabella, shitake etc. and adjust the quantity. Just make sure button mushrooms are more in quantity than others to balance the other types. 

If using shitake, soak them before hand and use the soaked water for stock!