Cannelloni di funghi
Cannelloni with chantarelles
One of my favourite Italian restaurants is Le Due Spade in Trento, where I recently had a flavour packed cannelloni di funghi.
This recipe does not do the original dish justice, but it is delicious and doable in a private kitchen without professional skills and access to all the special ingredients, cheese and mushrooms available in the mountains of Trentino – Alto Adige.
I make these cannelloni di funghi the southern way with semolino flour, which is more coarse and fluffy than ordinary flour. The mushrooms should ideally be wild finferle or chantarelles, but a mixture of brown mushrooms and dried fungi is also nice.
Ingredients
4 servings
For the cannelloni pasta
200 g semolina flour
50 ml water, and more of necessary
For the mushroom filling
100 g finely diced fresh mushrooms
25 g soaked, drained and diced dried mushrooms
200 ml cream
1 clove of garlic
1 tbsp butter
Salt and pepper
Fresh thyme
A squeeze of lemon juice
For the besciamella sauce
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp flour
150 ml milk
50 g grated parmesan
Preparation
Make a mound of semolina on a clean table top.
Make a hole in the middle of the flour, pour in water and stir it with a fork, so that the flour is gradually incorporated.
Knead the pasta dough with your hands, when it is sufficiently firm and non sticky.
Add more water or flour if necessary.
Wrap the dough in cling film, and let it rest in the fridge for an hour.
Roll the dough through a pasta machine 10 times before you gradually decrease the width.
Cut the thin pasta sheets in rectangles and leave them on a clean dish towel, while you prepare the filling.
To make the mushroom filling, melt butter in a casserole and fry the diced mushrooms with a garlic clove, until the mushrooms release water.
Pour cream over the mushrooms, heat it though and adjust the taste with salt, pepper, lots of fresh thyme and a squeeze of lemon juice.
Set the mushroom filling aside.
For the becchiamella sauce start by melting the butter in a casserole.
Stir in flour and let it bubble before gradually adding the milk. Keep stirring to prevent lumps and burning.
When you have a thick sauce remove the casserole from the heat and stir in grated cheese.
In order to assemble the cannelloni di funghi bring a pot of salted water to the boil.
Boil each sheet of pasta for two minutes.
Place the boiled pasta sheets on a clean dish towel.
Remove the garlic from the mushroom cream and place a spoonful of filling on each pasta sheet.
Roll the pasta sheets around the filling
Place each cannelloni di funghi in a greased ovenproof dish.
Pour the besciamella sauce over the cannelloni di funghi and bake them in the oven at 180 C/ 350 F for 15 minutes.
Cannelloni di funghi should be served piping hot accompanied by a nice glass of wine.
Cannelloni di funghi recipe inspired by a visit to Osteria Le Due Spade in Trento in Juli 2020.
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