Olive Garden Cannelloni al Forno

I absolutely love the Cannelloni al Forno at the Olive Garden. After searching in vain for the, I finally came up with a close copy by combining several different recipes. This recipe is time intensive so is probably more appropriate for a dinner party or special weekend meal. I know it sounds weird to process the cooked meat in a blender, but that step is essential if you want to achieve the same smooth, tender texture found in the restaurant version.

Estimated prep: 2 1/2 hr | Yield: 6 to 8 servings

Ingredients

Filling

• 1 cup diced red onion
• 1/2 cup diced celery
• 1/3 cup diced carrot
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 pound ground veal
• 1 pound ground mild Italian style sausage
• 1 pound ground chicken
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1 1/4 cups beef broth
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 1 bay leaf
• Salt to taste
• Ground black pepper to taste
• 2 egg yolks
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 cup milk
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• Fresh Pasta (highly recommended but could use dried cannelloni tubes)
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup water

Sauce

• 1 (16 ounce) jar high quality marinara sauce
• 1/2 pound Fontina cheese, grated
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 5 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

Instructions

Filling

1. Heat the olive oil in a deep skillet. Add onion, celery, and carrot, and cook over moderate heat until softened.
2. Add the garlic, and cook 1 minute.
3. Add veal, pork, and chicken. Cook, stirring occasionally, until meat is no longer pink. Drain excess liquid and grease thoroughly.
4. Add wine, and reduce for 1 minute. Stir in broth. Add herbs, bay leaf, and salt and pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes. Uncover, and reduce until almost dry. Discard bay leaf. Set aside to cool.
5. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a saucepan set over moderately low heat. Whisk in flour for approximately 2 minutes.
6. Whisk in milk, grated nutmeg, and salt and pepper. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes or until thickened. Stir in parsley and 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese.
7. Transfer the cooled meat mixture to a large bowl. Mix in egg yolks. Mix in the cheese and parsley sauce. Set aside to cool.
8. In a medium size bowl, combine flour and salt. Make a well in the flour, add the slightly beaten egg, and mix. Mixture should form a stiff dough. If needed, stir in 1 to 2 tablespoons water.
9. On a lightly floured surface, knead dough for about 3 to 4 minutes. With a pasta machine or by hand roll dough out to desired thickness (recommend the #5 thickness setting on hand-crank pasta machine). Use machine or knife to cut into 4- x 5-inch strips.
10. In a pot of boiling salted water, cook the noodles a few at a time until al dente. This should take only a minute or two with fresh pasta. Transfer to a bowl of cold water. Spread the noodles in one layer on paper towels to drain.
11. Place 1/3 of the cooled meat and parsley sauce mix into a blender or food processor. Pulse or blend until a smooth texture is achieved, about 2 minutes. Repeat with remaining mixture until all filling ingredients are processed.

Fontina Cheese Sauce

1. Place Fontina, cream, butter and Parmesan in a double boiler or a bowl in a saucepan of simmering water. Heat, stirring occasionally, until the cheeses have melted and the sauce is smooth and hot.
2. Cover bottom of 9 x 13 inch baking dish with 1/4 inch of marinara sauce. Spoon 1/4 cup of the filling down the center of one noodle, and roll the noodle to enclose the filing. Transfer the cannelloni, seam side down, to 9 x 13 inch baking dish. Repeat with the remaining noodles and filling, arranging in single layer. Ladle the remaining marinara sauce on one side of the cannelloni, leaving the other 1/2 of each tube without sauce. Spread the Fontina cheese sauce on the other 1/2 of the cannelloni and sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan cheese.
3. Bake at 400 degrees F (205 degrees C) for 10 minutes, or until bubbling.
4. Run under the broiler about 4 inches from the heat for 2 minutes, or until golden.

Attribution

Cynthia Bee cloned this recipe and submitted it to recipegoldmine.com