A delicious dish of veal stuffed cannelloni in a quick marinara sauce.
Ingredients
- cannelloni pasta: 1 pack (8 ounce pack)
- ounces ground veal: 8 piece
- carrots: 2 piece (chopped)
- stalk celery: 0.5 piece (chopped)
- yellow onion: 0.5 piece (chopped)
- ounces spinach: 10 piece (chopped)
- ¼ teaspoons salt: 1 piece
- ¼ teaspoons ground black pepper: 1 piece
- olive oil: 2 Tbsp
- dry white wine: 1 cup
- heavy cream: 1 cup
- roma (plum) tomatoes: 1 cup (diced)
- Parmesan cheese: 0.5 cup (grated)
- italian seasoning: 2 tsp
- fresh basil: 2 Tbsp (chopped)
- Italian-style diced tomatoes: 1 can (16 ounce can)
- Extra virgin olive oil: 2 Tbsp
- garlic: 2 clove (minced)
- onion: 1 piece (chopped)
- salt: 1 tsp
- ground black pepper: 1 tsp
- leaves fresh basil: 4 piece (chopped)
Metric Conversion
Stages of cooking
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Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain, separate shells, and set aside.
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Preheat oven to 500 degrees F (260 degrees C). In a 9 x 13 baking dish, combine veal, carrots, celery, chopped half onion and spinach. Stir well. Stir in 1 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1 1/4 teaspoon pepper, 2 tablespoons olive oil and white wine. Place in oven and roast until veal is brown and vegetables are soft, 30 to 40 minutes. Stir frequently. If meat begins to smoke, reduce heat to 400 degrees (200 degrees C).
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Let meat mixture cool 15 minutes, then process in food processor until finely chopped. Return to pan and stir in cream, Roma tomatoes, Parmesan, Italian seasoning and 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil. Bake 20 minutes more. Remove from oven and let cool.
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While meat mixture is cooling enough to handle, make tomato sauce. Puree canned tomatoes with their juice in food processor until smooth. In large skillet over medium heat, heat 2 tablespoons virgin olive oil. Saute garlic and chopped onion until soft. Stir in pureed tomato, 1 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon pepper. Cook 5 to 10 minutes, or until no longer watery. Add four chopped basil leaves and cook 1 minute more.
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Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Stuff pasta shells with cooled meat mixture, 2 to 3 tablespoons per shell. Place shells in clean 9 x 13 baking dish. Pour tomato sauce over shells and bake 20 minutes, or until sauce is bubbly.
