Cannelloni

I was looking for lasagne sheets in the supermarket over the weekend and couldn't find any on the shelves, so I settled for the next best thing, which was cannelloni shells. I can't remember when was the last time I cooked this kind of pasta. It is definitely more than 10 years ago. It's not what I would cook regularly. Even lasagne is seldom served in my home. I think the main problem is the bechamel sauce. I was told that it's easy to make, and I have tried to make it, but it didn't turn out well, so I gave up. However, on this Cannelloni box, there was a recipe for the sauce and that is what I used here. I almost threw out the box till I remembered I hadn't made the sauce, oops, so thankfully managed to scoop it out of the bin before rubbish went on top of it. Phew. Quite happy with the result, and will use it again. Decided to type it out here for future reference.

Bechamel Sauce

Ingredients -

900ml milk (heat it)
50g butter
50g flour (I used all purpose)
Nutmeg
Salt

Method -

1. Melt butter in a saucepan, stir in the flour, add the hot milk, stirring rapidly with a whisk to prevent lumps forming.

2. When it boils, remove from heat and add nutmeg and salt to taste.

Note - For the filling, I used homemade beef bolognaise sauce (slightly drier version).

To assemble, spread a layer of bechamel on the bottom of a greased baking dish. Stuff cannelloni with the filling, and arrange neatly over sauce. Pour bechamel over and in my case I use mozarella, but originally, it should be Parmagiano Reggiano. Sprinkle cheese over and repeat layer. Bake at 190 deg C for 20mins. Before serving, crush some fresh black pepper over.