Gioachino Rossini (1792–1868) was probably the first composer to become a celebrity. The French press reported the Italian composer’s every move on his first official visit to France, in 1822. During his long life after his retirement, stories about his wit, his hospitality, and, of course, his gastronomic excesses continued to circulate. We know about famous toasts he gave, and eyewitnesses have reported his cooking for friends — would that we had that kind of detailed reporting about the creation of his operas!

Rossini,the genius of Italian opera composers, was also a great lover of wonderful Italian food. Here is the cannelloni version named after him, and certainly as delightful an aria on the cannelloni theme as one could find. It involves a tomato sauce, a meat filling, and  bechamel.

 

Cannelloni Rossini Recipe

INGREDIENTS

For the filling:

• two cloves garlic
• three tablespoons olive oil
• one-half onion chopped fine
• six ounces of ground veal
• six ounces of ground pork
• salt and freshly ground pepper
• pinch of freshly ground nutmeg

For the tomato sauce:

• one medium yellow onion, peeled and cut into quarters
• four tablespoons of butter
• one 28-ounce can of imported peeled Italian tomatoes, chopped into small pieces
• salt and freshly ground pepper

Plus:

• béchamel sauce

And also:

• one quarter cup freshly grated parmesan
• two tablespoons of butter, cut into small pieces

PREPARATION:

Prepare the tomato sauce: melt the butter in a saute pan. Add the chopped tomatoes and stir. Add the quartered onion. Add two teaspoons of salt and some freshly ground pepper. Simmer, stirring regularly with a wooden spoon, constantly pressing the tomatoes to pulverize them, for about thirty minutes. The tomatoes should have melded into a fairly thick sauce.

Prepare the Bechamel sauce:

The object is to make a smooth, luxurious and elegant white sauce. As you prepare the béchamel, there are three major givens:

• Do not let the flour become colored (gives it a burnt taste)
• Add the milk to the flour mixture very slowly, off the heat
• Never stop stirring

For the sauce:

• three cups whole milk
• four tablespoons butter
• one-quarter cup flour
• one-quarter teaspoon salt
• touch of white pepper if available, black otherwise
• couple pinches freshly grated nutmeg

Heat the milk in a separate saucepan, almost but not quite to a boil.

Melt the butter in another saucepan, over medium heat. When the butter has melted completely, turn the heat to low, add the flour, stirring, and then whisking until smooth, about two minutes. Remove from the heat.

Add the milk very slowly, a couple of tablespoons at a time at the start, whisking all the while.  When half the milk has been incorporated into the flour, you may add the milk a little more rapidly. Continue to whisk until the sauce is creamy and smooth.

Put the pan on a simmer, add the salt and pepper and nutmeg, and simmer for about ten minutes, stirring all the while, until the sauce is about as dense as whipping cream. The sauce should coat the back of a spoon.

Set aside. If you have to wait a while until you use  the béchamel, you can re-heat it again just before using. But reheat it under an extremely low heat, and just to get it warmed. And stir while you are reheating!

For the filling:

Heat the oil over medium heat in a saute pan. Add the garlic and cook for one minute. Add the onions and cook, stirring regularly, until the onions are soft but not brown — about five minutes. If using the chopped chicken livers, add them now and mash them with the wooden spoon. Add the chicken, veal and pork. Add a teaspoon of salt and some freshly ground pepper. Cook for about ten minutes, until the meat, noting especially the pork, is cooked through. While cooking, stir and smash regularly, getting as fine a texture as possible.

Add one-half cup of the bechamel to the filling and set aside.

Butter the bottom of the dish well. Add about one cup of the tomato sauce on the bottom of the dish, spread evenly.

Put two tablespoons of the filling in each square 5″ x 5″ wrapper of pasta. Roll up. Put in baking dish seamed side down.

Use all the filling; or do all the cannelloni you need to do to fill the baking dish. Cover the cannelloni with the remaining tomato sauce, and then the remaining bechamel sauce. Top with the parmesan and the dots of butter.

Cover loosely with foil, and bake at 375 degrees for twenty minutes to thirty minutes. The cannelloni should start to have a brownish crust on top. Serves 8, serving size is two cannelloni per person. Enjoy!