Beef and Spinach Cannelloni

We love Italian food in our household but can’t always find a recipe to suit our tastes and/or diet (one of us is lactose intolerant and very sensitive), so we decided to make our own version of a common beef and ricotta recipe. Many we found served about 24 people or were entirely in imperial because they were American recipes (no offence Americans, but you are the only country in the world using imperial apart from Liberia and Myanmar!). So this is what we came up with. Don’t be put off by the long list of ingredients or the number of steps, it took longer to write than it did to make! It really was comfort food at its best and delicious!

Print Recipe

5 from 1 vote

Beef and Spinach Cannelloni

Prep Time30 minutes mins

Cook Time2 hours hrs 30 minutes mins

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: beef mince, cannelloni, carrot, celery, garlic, onion, parmesan cheese, spinach, whole milk

Servings: 4 people

Calories: 698kcal

Author: Chief Cook and Bottle Washer

Ingredients

For the ragu

• 1 Onion finely chopped
• 2 sticks Celery finely chopped
• 1 Carrot finely chopped
• 1 clove Garlic finely chopped
• 500 g Beef Mince 12% fat is ideal
• ½ tsp Chilli Flakes this is optional but if you've seen the rest of this website, you'll know we love chilli!
• 1 glass Red Wine Italian of course!
• 50 ml Whole Milk
• 400 g Passata
• 2 handfuls Spinach
• 12 Cannelloni Tubes buy dried, life is too short!

For the Béchamel Sauce

• 1 tbsp Butter that's about 30g
• 1 tbsp Plain Flour
• ½ ltr Whole Milk we use lactose free, but you can use any
• ¼ Nutmeg
• 75 g Parmesan Cheese grated

Instructions

To make the ragu

• Gently fry the finely chopped onion, celery and carrot (mirepoix) until it is softened and the onion is translucent. Do not underestimate how long this will take, at least 20 minutes on a low heat without burning! Add the garlic and stir in, cooking for another minute, add the chilli flakes if using and stir in
  
• Add the beef mince and stir until it is completely browned. Throw in the 50ml of milk, which helps to tenderise the meat, and stir in.
  
• Next add the red wine and cook over a high heat to evaporate the alcohol. This will take a couple of minutes. Then add the passata and turn the heat right down. (We wash the bottle out with a little water and add that too!) Turn the heat down as low as possible and cook uncovered for at least an hour, an hour and a half is better. Season to taste with salt and pepper. You want it to be dry enough to spoon or pipe into the cannelloni tubes but not too dry or the pasta won't cook. Add more water if it dries out too much
  
• Five minutes before you finish cooking the ragu, add the spinach and allow it to wilt into the ragu. Take it off the heat and allow it to cool enough that you can handle it when filling the cannelloni tubes.
  
• When it is cool enough to handle, either pipe it into the cannelloni tubes, or use a spoon to fill the tubes. Lay the cannelloni tubes in a dish that is large enough to take them but not too large. (The astute among you will note there are only eight tubes in the photo. That is because we were making it for two with enough left over for a lunch the next day!)
  

To make the Béchamel Sauce

• Whilst your Ragu is cooking, melt the butter in a pan and, when melted, add the flour. Stir constantly to stop any lumps forming
  
• When the flour mixture changes colour slightly you will know that you have cooked the flour out (so that it won't taste of flour later!)
  
• One the flour is cooked out start adding the milk a little at a time. At first you want to add quite small amounts (a couple of tablespoons) but as the sauce comes together you can add more milk each time. Keep stirring and adding milk until the sauce reaches a lovely thick creamy texture. Grate the nutmeg into the sauce and give it a quick stir
  
• When you are happy with the consistency of your sauce (make it slightly looser than you want it to end up because the cheese will thicken it slightly), add most of the parmesan cheese and stir it into the sauce. Keep a small handful back to sprinkle over the top
  

Assemble the dish and cook!

• Pour the sauce over the cannelloni tubes and sprinkle the parmesan cheese you kept back over the top. Place in a preheated oven at 180℃, gas mark 4, and bake for 45 minutes
  
• Once it is cooked, take it out of the oven and allow it to rest for 15 minutes. This will allow you time to pour yourself a glass of that lovely wine to enjoy whilst eating it!
  

Nutrition

Calories: 698kcal | Carbohydrates: 49g | Protein: 37g | Fat: 34g | Saturated Fat: 15g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 13g | Trans Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 111mg | Sodium: 489mg | Potassium: 1.175mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 5.344IU | Vitamin C: 19mg | Calcium: 329mg | Iron: 7mg