We got back from Egypt and totally escaped the travel nightmares that have plagued Europe, so we thought we ought to celebrate Christmas with a bang (not to mention a few Euromillions tickets).
Since we were making a pork roast and roasted potatoes, I thought we'd push the boat out with a pasta dish as well.
This is the second time I'm making this baked cauliflower and broccoli cannelloni, adapting Jamie Oliver's recipe:
500g broccoli
500g cauliflower
Olive oil
7 cloves garlic, finely slice
1 small bunch of thyme
25g anchovies in oil
Black pepper
2 cups passata
Red wine vinegar
500ml creme fraiche
200g Parmesan cheese, finely grated
16 cannelloni tubes
1 small bunch fresh basil, leaves picked
100-200g mozzarella cheese
Extra-virgin olive oil
First boil the cauliflower and broccoli in some salted water for about 5-6 minutes.
Next, add a good glug of olive oil to a pan and fry the finely sliced garlic. Add the anchovies and thyme, give it a good mix and then add the vegetables. (The original recipe called for dried chilli but I didn't have any so did without.) Coat, add a few tablespoons of the leftover vegetable water and let it cook for about 20 minutes. Don't cover it entirely, and stir regularly.
While Jamie said to mash the vegs after they are cooked, I found it made more sense to mash it while it was cooking - it speeds up the cooking, no?
Season the vegetables and then let them cool.
Place the passata (I didn't have any so just used canned diced tomatoes, which made the hubby very happy because he prefers that anyway, plus he didn't have to go to the store on Christmas Day...) onto a baking tray (check that the tubes fit first!), add a swig of red wine vinegar, and a pinch of salt. Mix well.
Make a nice white sauce by mixing the creme fraiche, half of the grated parmesan cheese, and a touch of water. In the spirit of moderation, I used lower-fat creme fraiche. Plus running in the cold is no fun so I ain't doing it.
Now, place the cooled veg mix in a piping bag (I'd a few left over from my recent cuisine course). Twist the end, cut the tip, and let the fun begin!
Pipe the vegetables in a cannelloni tube, packing it tightly, and then place it on top of the tomatoes.
Repeat until you have a nice layer of tubes.
(Tip: I had a fair amount of leftover vegetables, even after adding two more tubes than the recipe called for. Next time I do this, I'd pipe the tubes first and see how large a baking tray they fit onto before laying out the passata. It can definitely use more than 20tubes from what I can see..)
Next, add a good sprinkling of basil - whole leaves or roughly chopped are fine.
Add a slather of the white sauce and spread it evenly.
Sprinkle the other half of the parmesan cheese on top, tear off chunks of mozzarella cheese and sprinkle on top (I only used half the amount called for).
Finally, drizzle with olive oil. Bake at 190 degC for 30-40 minutes until it's golden brown on top.
I curled up with the hubby, put a movie on and tucked in! Happy Holidays!
