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It is finally time for a delicious casserole again! I always think Fridays are very good for that. Fridays are not only for snacks, but also for dinners together at the table with the whole family. We also find that very important at Casa de la Vida!
I really couldn’t wait to share this recipe with you. In our house we really love béchamel casseroles and I am so happy that I can finally share my recipe and way with you! Because, firstly, your own béchamel sauce is much tastier than a sauce from a jar, and secondly, béchamel sauce is not at all difficult to make if you pay attention and follow the steps properly. Before you know it, you can make bechamel in your sleep!
What is a béchamel sauce and what do you use it for? In France, this delicious sauce is used for almost every dish that goes into the oven, such as lasagna, cannelloni, even croquettes and more!
This is my own recipe, which I have perfected over the years. I’m not saying this to be shelved, but trust me I can have this sauce done in less than 15 minutes these days! I prepare it twice a week, so I have had enough opportunities to practice with it. And this recipe will be in my book too, because this is really a recipe that everyone should have in their house!
The filling of these cannelloni is made from sausages that I had left over from other dishes, a bell pepper and some onion. What more could you want, it’s simple and quick! You just need to be patient when the dish has to be cooked further in the oven!
So make sure you let the dish cook in the oven for at least 40 minutes, otherwise you really have a chance that the cannelloni is not yet cooked. That would be a shame if you want to serve this beautiful dish to your guests, right?
The best thing about this dish and what makes me really enthusiastic is that my father and Luis really love it and eat it completely. They can fight for the last bits, haha!
Hopefully you too are a fan of cannelloni and béchamel, because then this is really the recipe for you!
Ingredients
Cannelloni with sausage
90 minutes 4 persons
Filling
- olive oil
- 18 cannelloni tubes, uncooked
- 250 gr fresh sausage, without skin
- 150 gr mushrooms, cut into small pieces
- 1 onion, chopped
- 4 cloves of garlic, chopped
- 1 bell pepper, cut into small cubes
- 2 sprigs of rosemary
- 1 teaspoon of thyme
Garnish
- 2 mushrooms, cut into slices
- grated Parmesan cheese
- chili flakes
- 150 gr of grated cheese
Bechamel
- 70 gr butter
- 70 gr flour
- 700 ml of milk approx
- 1 teaspoon of nutmeg
- black pepper
- 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
- salt
Preparation
First make the béchamel sauce: Melt the butter in a small saucepan and then add the flour. Stir well with a fork until it becomes a thick paste. First add 200 ml of milk and stir it well with a whisk, until it starts to thicken. Then add another 200 ml of milk and start stirring again and turn up the heat a little bit. This way you ensure that the béchamel is nice and thick!
Then add the nutmeg, salt and pepper, and the crushed garlic and stir. Then add another 200 ml of milk and stir well again. I don’t add the milk all at once, so the sauce has time to thicken in the pan. This way, you can never add too much milk in one go. Is the béchamel still too thick? Then add a little more milk. Is the béchamel thick but still runny? Then keep stirring, taste it and add spices as desired. Let the béchamel cool while you prepare the other things.
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees and grease a low but wide baking dish (I used one measuring 23 x 18cm) with butter and set it aside. Fry the onion with the garlic in a large frying pan. Then add the thyme and rosemary (without the sprigs), the salt and pepper, and stir well. Let this bake together for a few minutes and then add the bell pepper. Let this bake for 5 minutes, while stirring everything so that it does not burn.
Add a little more olive oil and the mushrooms. Stir well and gradually add the sausage (without intestine!). Break the sausage with a wooden spatula so that you get small pieces. Add a little salt and pepper, let everything cook for a while and add a little more oil if the sausage is too dry. If you have too much in your pan, slice the vegetables to one side to make room for the sausage to cook properly.
Stir everything back together after 5 minutes. Make sure everything is fine enough to fill your cannelloni and turn off the heat. Finely grate the cheese, slice the mushrooms and set these toppings aside. Pour or spoon a layer of béchamel into the buttered baking dish and start filling the tubes by pushing the filling in from one side by hand. Do this very carefully so that the pipes do not break! Place the completely filled tubes in the dish. Repeat until all cannelloni are filled. Do you have a little bit of filling left? Then spread that over the tubes.
Stir the béchamel sauce briefly, then spread it over the tubes. Smooth the sauce with a spoon and make sure that the sauce does not get over the edge of the bowl, because then the bowl will overflow while baking in the oven. Divide the mushrooms over the top of your dish and sprinkle the cheese and chili flakes on top before putting it in the oven. Bake everything for at least 35 or 40 minutes. If the top threatens to brown, you can place a sheet of aluminum foil over the bowl.
Remove the dish from the oven and serve it with a fresh salad!
Beware, the filling can remain very hot for a long time!
Voilà, a delicious casserole that is always completely finished whenever I put it on our table!
The result
This is a delicious casserole that you can make in no time. Of course you can also easily make this with lasagne sheets if you don’t have cannelloni tubes, or even with macaroni! That is of course the best thing about an oven dish like this: everything is possible and everything is allowed!
It is important that you do not burn the béchamel and cheese because that is the tastiest part of this dish! And that is also why Luis learned to eat this part as a first. He knows I’ll steal the crust off him when he doesn’t, haha!
If it’s really something I like, chances are I’ll just take it off your plate. Silly, isn’t it? But I’m probably not the only one who does that, haha!
Well, ladies and gentlemen friends, I wish you a wonderful and happy weekend, enjoy it!
