Jamie Oliver's Baked Cauliflower and Broccoli Cannelloni

I got 'Jamie at home' as a gift a while back but to be honest, I haven't had the chance or inclination to try most things from the book as much as I've enjoyed watching the television series that demonstrated the recipes. Some recipes centers around rabbit or pheasant meat (which is not that common in Sweden, maybe at gourmet shops) or it's a really long list of ingredients that needs to be assembled and I was just feeling lazy.

However, I had some cauliflower and broccoli on hand when I thought about trying this (it was the season for them and they were quite cheap) and as my dear Johan doesn't like either of this vegetables, I thought this might be a good way to 'introduce' it to him. He did accept it the first bite (because it's a combination of pasta, cheese and tomatoes after all) but when he knew what was inside the cannelloni - well, I ended up finishing the dish over a period of time. (It's quite a large portion!)

However, I will make this again, I think it's a pretty good recipe and if you like a change from the usual lasagne-like dishes and not averse to these two vegetables, you won't regret it. It's quite heavy though, so a small portion goes a long way for each person. This maybe classified as vegetarian, except for the use of anchovies (not the Chinese kind), but I think it can be omitted and still be a nice dish for a vegetarian option at your dinner party.

Ingredients (It said serves 4-6, I think it can serve up to 8-9 persons)

salt and pepper for seasoning

500g broccoli, washed and cut into florets with stalks chopped

500g cauliflower, washed and cut into florets, stalks chopped

olive oil

7 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely sliced

a small bunch of fresh thyme (I used about 2-3 teaspoons of dried thyme)

1 tin of anchovies in oil (about 25g tin), drained and chopped, reserve the oil

2-3 small dried chillies, crumbled

500ml passata or 1 box of tomato puree

red wine vinegar

500ml creme fraiche

200g Parmesan cheese, finely grated

16 cannelloni tubes

a small bunch of fresh basil, leaves picked

200g mozzarella cheese

Steps

1. Boil the chopped cauliflower and broccoli in a saucepan of salted boiling water for about 5-6 minutes until cooked. Drained and reserve some cooking water.
   
   
   
2. In a large saucepan, heat up 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil and add in the garlic to fry for a few seconds. Add in the anchovies, thyme, anchovies oil and chili to fry for a few more seconds before adding in the cooked broccoli and cauliflower. Mix well.
3. Add in about 4 tablespoons of reserved cooking water to the mix and cover, let it cook on low-medium heat for about 15-20 minutes stirring regularly. They will become like mash (but that's the intention!), but be careful not to burn it. Remove the cover for the last 5 minutes to let the moisture evaporate and mash it up with a potato masher.
   
   
   
4. Season the vegetable mix with salt and pepper and spread it out on a tray to cool.
   
   
   
   
5. Use a baking dish big enough to fit the cannelloni tubes snugly side by side. Add a pinch of salt and a tablespoon of red vine vinegar into the passata/tomato puree before pouring it into the baking dish, spreading it out if necessary.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
6. For the white sauce, mix the creme fraiche with half the Parmesan cheese, a sprinkle of salt and pepper with a little reserved cooking water to thin it down. Set aside.
   
   
   
   
7. Spoon the cooled cauliflower and broccoli mixture into a sandwich bag and cut off one corner so you can pipe the mixture into the cannelloni. Fill the tubes up, it will be enough. Preheat the oven to 190°C.
   
   
   
8. Place the filled cannelloni in a single layer on top of the tomato puree and lay the basil leaves over.
   
   
   
   
   
   
9. Spoon the white sauce over, season with some black pepper.
   
   
   
10. Sprinkle over the remaining Parmesan cheese and tear and spread over the mozzarella.
    
    
    
11. Drizzle over with olive oil and bake in the preheated oven for 30-40 minutes until golden and bubbling on top. Jamie Oliver's suggestion is to have it with some rocket leaves dressed with a squeeze of lemon along with some crusty bread. I just have it as it is. :)