Ingredients

Meat Sauce

glugs extra virgin olive oil

medium red onions, chopped finely

cloes garlic, pressed and finely sliced

450g

mince

1 tsp

dried oregano

1/2 tsp

sea salt

1/2 tsp

Steenbergs organic Spanish citrus pepper

1 tsp

tomato puree

tin chopped tomatoes

Bechamel Sauce

500ml

milk

Steenbergs Organic Bay Leaves

1/4

onion finely chopped

1/4 tsp

Steenbergs organic Nutmeg Powder

50g

organic butter

50g

Organic plain flour

For the Canelloni

tubes of cannelloni

50g

mature cheddar, grated

50g

gruyere cheese, grated

Cannelloni is a pasta dish made of large tubes of pasta, rather like an inside out lasagne dish with cheesy bechamel sauce poured over the top and baked till golden brown

Serves 4

Method

Preheat oven to 180o C
To make the meat sauce
Heat the oil over medium heat in a large, heavy bottomed non-stick saucepan. Cook the onion for about 5 minutes until translucent. Add the garlic and cook for a further 2 minutes, stirring. Add the mince and cook for 5 minutes, stirring so it does not stick to the pan and browns all over.
Add the oregano, salt, Spanish pepper, tomato paste and tinned tomatoes. Cook over a medium heat for 15-20 minutes until the tomatoes have become a nice thick mixture and the juice has reduced.
To make the Bechamel
Pour the milk into a large, heavy-bottomed non-stick saucepan. Add the bay leaves, onion and nutmeg powder and gently bring to the boil. Take off the heat just as the bubbbles start appearing.
In a separate saucepan, melt the butter. Add the flour and mix until no lumps. Cook on a low heat for 2 minutes, stirring continuously. Remove from the heat and add a little milk. and combine well until smooth. When the milk has been absorbed add a little more milk. Continue with this until all the milk has been added, blending in with your wooden spoon all the time - do not leave the sauce without stirring! Add half the cheese and allow to melt before stirring in.
To complete the cannelloni
Fill the tubes with the mince mixture - the easiest way to do this is by pushing the mince to the side of the pan with the tube until the tube is full. Put in a flat-bottomed oven-proof dish. Continue until all the cannelloni tubes are full of mince. Pour the sauce over the cannelloni. Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top. Cover with foil and cook in the oven for 15 minutes. Remove the foil and cook for a further 10 minutes before serving immediately.