Cannelloni

Ingredients

For the Pasta:
• 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
• 4 large eggs
• Large pinch of salt

For the Tomato Sauce:
• One 28-oz. can crushed tomatoes
• 1 yellow onion, halved
• 4-6 tablespoons butter
• Salt and pepper

For the Filling:
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 small yellow onion, minced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 chicken liver, diced (optional)
• 6 oz. boneless, skinless chicken thighs, diced
• 6 oz. ground pork
• 6 oz. ground veal
• Salt and pepper
• Freshly ground nutmeg

For the Bechamel:
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 cup flour
• 2 cups hot milk
• 1/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
• Salt and pepper

To Finish:
• 1/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
• 2-3 tablespoons butter

Instructions

1. First make the pasta. Put the flour into a medium mixing bowl and make a well in the center of the mound. Add the eggs and salt to the well and beat with a fork. Continue gently beating the eggs while gradually stirring in the flour, little by little, from the outside rim of the well. When the dough is too lumpy to work with the fork, use your hand and knead in the remaining flour into a ball.
2. Transfer the dough in the bowl to a lightly floured work surface. With clean dry hands, knead the dough, dusting it with flour as you work, until it becomes a smooth supple ball and is no longer tacky. Press your thumb into the center of the dough; if the center feels tacky, knead in a little more flour. Cover the dough with an inverted bowl or wrap it in plastic wrap and let it rest for at least 30 minutes and up to several hours.
3. Cut the dough into quarters and keep it covered until ready to use. Working with one piece of dough at a time, flatten the dough a bit into a rectangle, then feed the narrow end through the smooth cylinders of a pasta machine (either automatic or hand-crank) set on the widest setting. Do this two or three times to make the dough uniform. Decrease the setting on the machine by one notch and feed the narrow end of the dough through the cylinders again. Repeat this process, decreasing the setting by one notch each time. Roll the pasta as thin as you like (I got mine to about the second-thinnest setting). Lay the sheet of pasta out on a lightly floured surface and cove with a clean, damp dishcloth to keep it from drying out until you're ready to cut it.
4. For the tomato sauce, put the crushed tomatoes into a medium saucepan. Rinse the can with a little water to get the remaining tomatoes out and pour the liquid into the saucepan. Add the onions and butter and season with salt and pepper. Simmer over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until the onions soften and the sauce thickens a bit, about 30 minutes.
5. Taste the sauce. Depending on the canned tomatoes you've used, you may want to soften the sauce's acidity with a little more butter (the more butter the softer and rounder the flavors). I had to add 2 pinches of sugar to balance the acidity. Remove and discard the onions from the sauce before using.
6. For the filling, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic and cook until soft, 3-5 minutes. Add the chicken livers, if using, and cook until they are no longer pink. Add the chicken, pork and veal and season well with salt and pepper. Cook the meat, breaking it up with a fork or the back of a spoon, until it is cooked through and much of the liquid has evaporated, about 10 minutes.
7. Working in batches, transfer the meat to a cutting board and chop it until its texture is quite fine, like a coarse paste. Or, pulse the meat in a food processor until it just begins to hold together, but avoid turning the meat into a smooth paste! Season the filling with a couple pinches nutmeg and a little more salt and pepper if it needs it. Transfer to a mixing bowl and set aside.
8. For the bechamel, melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Sift in the flour and cook, stirring constantly, until the flour loses its raw taste yet has not taken on any color (it should remain white), 1-2 minutes. Gradually whisk in the milk then stir constantly until the sauce is as thick as heavy cream, about 10 minutes.
9. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Add about 1/2 cup of the bechamel to the meat filling. Cover the surface of the remaining bechamel with a sheet of plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming and set aside in a warm spot.
10. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook 2-3 sheets of pasta at a time until tender, about 30 seconds, then transfer them with a slotted spoon to a large bowl of cold water to cool. Lay the sheets of cooked pasta out on clean damp kitchen towels in a single layer without touching. Cover with more damp towels.
11. To assemble the cannelloni, spread 2-3 tablespoons of the meat filling along the wide edge of a sheet of pasta, then roll it up jelly roll style. Repeat with the remaining filling with sheets of pasta.
12. Spread about half of the tomato sauce over the bottom of a large baking dish. Nestle the cannelloni, overlapping side down, into the dish in a single layer. Spread the remaining tomato sauce over the cannelloni. Spoon the reserved bechamel over the sauce, making a swath down the center of the dish. Sprinkle the top with the cheese and dot with small knobs of the butter. The prepared cannelloni can keep up to this point in the refrigerator, covered with plastic wrap, for up to 2 days, or in the freezer for up to 2 weeks. (It does not need to be defrosted before going into the oven to bake.)
13. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Bake the cannelloni until the sauce is bubbling hot and the top is lightly browned in spots, 15-30 minutes.

Notes