World Pasta Day is celebrated every 25 October. Pasta is one of the cheapest and most versatile foods in the world: it lends itself to experimentation, creativity and personal interpretation, and it combines with countless ingredients. To mark the day we are sharing a recipe for vegetable cannelloni that is very easy to make at home in under an hour. There are more than 300 types of pasta, but cannelloni and lasagne use flat pasta: a large, smooth shape that gives the sauces a wide surface to cling to.
Ingredients for vegetable cannelloni (serves 4)
- 12 cannelloni sheets
- ½ litre béchamel sauce
- 2 carrots
- 1 leek
- 50 g spinach
- ¼ cauliflower
- Grated cheese, as needed
- Salt, as needed
- Extra virgin olive oil, as needed
For the béchamel sauce
- 50 g butter
- 50 g flour
- ½ litre whole milk
- Salt, as needed
- White pepper, as needed
- Nutmeg, as needed
To make the béchamel: sift the flour through a sieve. Heat the milk over a medium heat for 4 or 5 minutes without letting it boil. In another pan, melt the butter over a low heat until it turns a hazelnut colour; you can skim off the foam if you like. Add the sifted flour to the butter and let it cook until it forms small golden lumps, stirring with a wooden spoon until it comes together in a ball. Then add half the hot milk, the salt, the pepper and the ground nutmeg. Whisk constantly for 5 minutes. Turn the heat down to the minimum and add the rest of the milk little by little as the sauce thickens.
To make the vegetable cannelloni: cook or soak the cannelloni sheets as the manufacturer suggests. Drain and leave to dry on a clean, dry cloth.
Clean the carrots, cauliflower and spinach. Cook the three vegetables separately and chop them into small pieces.
Sauté the chopped raw leek in oil, then add the cooked vegetables. Season with salt. Add half the béchamel and mix.
Preheat the oven to 180 °C. Fill the cannelloni with the mixture and place them on a baking tray. Cover with the rest of the béchamel and a few knobs of butter, and sprinkle with grated cheese. Grill until golden. Serve hot.
You’ll find more ideas for cooking at home in our recipes section.
