Cannelloni with sausage ragu and tomato sauce

Updated at: Thu, 17 Aug 2023 14:01:53 GMT

Step 1

1 First, make the filling for the cannelloni. Heat a large nonstick frying pan on a medium heat. Add the sausage meat and cook for 10 minutes, until the fat has rendered and the meat is coloured. Remove the meat to a plate and set aside.

Step 2

2 Add the shallot or onion, celery and sage to the fat left in the pan and cook for 3 minutes, until soft, then add the red wine. Cook for 2 minutes, until reduced by half, then return the sausage meat to the pan and cook slowly, on a medium heat, for 10 minutes or until the mixture is reduced and syrupy. Remove from the heat, allow to cool slightly, then add the ricotta, half the parmesan, the egg and breadcrumbs. Mix well and check the seasoning, then set aside.

Step 3

3 To make the tomato sauce, heat 3 tbsp olive oil in a medium saucepan set over a medium heat. Add the garlic and basil leaves and cook for 1 minute, until the garlic has softened but not coloured. Add the passata, half cover the pan with a lid and cook for 10 minutes – you want the sauce still to be a bit wet because this is what will cook the pasta. Season with salt and pepper, then set aside.

Step 4

4 Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 4.

Step 5

5 To fill the cannelloni, spoon the filling into a large piping bag. Cut a hole 2cm in diameter at the end of the bag, then take a cannelloni tube and, positioning the end of the piping bag just inside the tube, pipe it full of filling. Keep filling until you’ve used up all the tubes (you may have some filling left over).

Step 6

6 Grease an ovenproof dish or skillet with the remaining 1 tbsp oil. Add spoonfuls of the tomato sauce to the base, so that you cover it to a depth of about 1cm. Top with a single layer of all the filled cannelloni tubes, then pour over the remaining sauce. Dot with the mozzarella and sprinkle over the remaining parmesan. Cover tightly with foil, bake for 30 minutes, then remove the foil and bake for a further 10 minutes, until the tubes are cooked, the sauce is bubbling and the cheese is golden.

Step 7

7 Leave to cool for a few minutes, then serve on warmed plates, sprinkled with extra parmesan and black pepper.

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