Yes, it’s mid-summer, but no, I don’t think that means you have to spend July and August eating exclusively meat from your grill or raw micro-greens you picked up at your local farmers market. Sometimes, especially on a Sunday afternoon, you’ve got to turn on your oven and bake an old-school Italian classic – this time with a summery twist.
A quick lesson on cannelloni, in case you’re not familiar. Cannelloni (which means “large reeds” in Italian because of the cylindrical shape) is essentially just sheets of pasta rolled around a filling and generally topped with cheese and sauce. Oftentimes this is made with fresh pasta cut into squares, but there’s a variation on this that’s made instead with just-made crêpes. Now fresh, homemade pasta is great, but crêpes add a melt-in-your-mouth quality to this dish that’s really hard to beat.
It’s probably obvious by now that cannelloni isn’t something you’re going to throw together on a whim whether it’s made with pasta or crêpes. That’s true. But it’s not as time-consuming as you might think, and when I’ve made this recipe (twice now), I’ve sort of spread the work over a two-day period, prepping the various components before assembling and baking off at the last minute.
I think crêpes also sound a little scary, because people think of them like haute cuisine pancakes, and they seem super fussy (perpetuated by the fact that some people will tell you that you need a special crêpe pan to make them. Nonsense). In fact, they are quite easy, and since they’re just going to be used to make roll-ups, no one is going to notice the weird drippy patterns around the end once they’re slathered in cheese and baked to golden perfection. Trust me.
I generally think of red meat sauce as a cold weather thing (though I’d obviously not turn down eating this any time of year), so this recipe has a bit more of a summery vibe, using a mushroom and zucchini filling and topped with béchamel sauce (and cheese, naturally). They’re still super rich tasting, thanks especially to meaty porcini mushrooms that always add a unique depth of flavor to whatever they are added to, but overall the flavor is a little more warm-weather appropriate, especially if served with a perfect salad of micro-greens you picked up from your local farmers market. See? So summery.
A few quick notes on this recipe:
1) The original recipe calls for this to make 24 crêpes, but I've made this twice and both times it made exactly 16 (so two serving dishes instead of 3) using the amount of batter per crêpe it specifies. I've written the recipe this way but kept all other measurements as is, because the sauce and cheese ratio still worked for 2 dishes vs. 3.
2) Most of this recipe can be made in advance. The crêpes can be made beforehand and refrigerated, tightly wrapped, for up to 3 days and frozen for up to 1 month. The filling can be refrigerated for up to 3 days. And the dish may be assembled in advance and refrigerated for up to 3 days, just bring it to room temperature before baking.
Ingredients
- 8 large eggs
- 2 cups / 480ml whole milk
- 3 tablespoons minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
- 1 1/2 cups / 175g unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Small pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, or more as needed for the crêpe pan
- 1/2 oz. / 15g dried porcini mushrooms
- 1 cup / 240ml boiling water
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 large shallot, minced
- 1 lb. / 455g mixed fresh mushrooms, such as cremini, portobellow and shiitake, coarsely chopped
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 lb. / 455g zucchini, cut into thin half-coins or diced
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup / 120ml dry white wine
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh basil
- 1 1/2 cups / 340g well-drained whole cow's milk ricotta cheese
- 4 oz. / 115g fresh mozzarella cheese, diced
- 1/2 cup / 60g freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
- 2 1/2 cups / 600ml whole or 2-percent milk
- Reserved liquid from reconstituted porcini
- 4 tablespoons / 55g unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup / 30g unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
- Unsalted butter for the baking dishes, softened
- 1 cup / 115g freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
Instructions
- To make the Crêpes: In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk and parsley. In a separate large bowl, combined the flour, salt and a few grindings of pepper, and nutmeg. Slowly pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture, whisking all the while to avoid lumps. Cover the crêpe batter with plastic wrap and let stand for 30 minutes.
- Melt a little butter ina 9-inch nonstick skillet placed over medium heat. When the pan is hot, pour in 1/4 cup / 60ml of the crêpe batter and quickly swirl it around to completely coat the bottom of the pan, forming a thin pancake. Cook for 30 to 45 seconds, until just set. Use a small angled spatula to lift up one edge of the crêpe. Flip the crêpe and cook on the other side for 20 to 30 seconds. Transfer the crêpe to a plate. Continue to make crêpes until you have used all the batter, making sure to grease the pan from time to time with a thin film of butter. You should end up with ~16 crêpes. Cover the crêpes with plastic wrap until you are ready to assemble the cannelloni.
- To Make the Filling: Put the dried porcini in a small heatproof bowl and pout the boiling water over them. Let stand for 20 to 30 minutes, or until softened. Drain the porcini in a fine-mesh sieve lined with a damp paper towel, reserving the liquid. Chop the mushrooms coarsely and set the mushrooms and liquid aside separately.
- Warm the oil and butter in a large skillet placed over medium-low heat. When the butter is melted, add the shallot and cook, stirring often, for 5 to 7 minutes, or until they are softened but not browned. Add the porcini mushrooms and the mixed fresh mushrooms and stir to coat them with the oil. Sprinkle the parsley and salt over the mushrooms and toss gently. Raise the heat to medium and cook, stirring from time to time, for 10 minutes, or until the liquid released by the mushrooms has mostly evaporated. Add the zucchini to the pan and season with pepper. Cook, stirring from time to time,for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the mushrooms and zucchini are tender and there is little liquid left in the pan. Raise the heat to medium-high and pour in the wine. Let it bubble for 1 or 2 minutes, until most of the wine is evaporated. Remove from the heat and stir in the basil. Transfer the mushroom-zucchini mixture to a medium bowl and let it cool for 10 minutes.
- In a separate medium bowl, stir the ricotta with a fork until it is creamy. Fold in the mozzarella and Parmigiano. Then fold the cheeses into the mushroom-zucchini mixture. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside.
- To Make the Sauce: Pour the milk into a medium saucepan. Pour the reserved porcini liquid into a glass measuring cup, and add enough water so that the liquid equals 1 cup. Pour the liquid into the pan with the milk. Bring just to a boil over medium heat and then turn off the heat.
- Melt the butter in a large heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the flour and cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Add the hot milk mixture in driplets, whisking constantly and taking care to eliminate lumps and avoid scorching. The mixture will look like it's breaking but it will come together again and become smooth. When all of the milk mixture has been added, cook the sauce, stirring it frequently, for 10 to 15 minutes, or until it is thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon. Season with the salt, pepper and nutmeg, and remove from the heat.
- To Assemble and Bake the Cannelloni: Heat the oven to 375°F. Have the crêpes, filling and balsamella sauce at the ready. Lightly coat two 8x12 inch baking dishes with butter. Spread a thin layer of balsamella sauce in the bottom of each dish.
- Place a crêpe on a clean work surface. Spoon about 2 tablespoons of the mushroom-zucchini filling across the bottom third of the crêpe. Roll it up, jelly-roll style, and place it seam-side down in the baking dish. Continue filling and rolling the crêpes, arranging them side by side in a single layer in each baking dish. You should be able to fit 8 crêpes in each baking dish.
- Divide the remaining balsamella sauce among the two baking dishes, spreading it over the filled cannelloni. Sprinkle half of the Parmigiano cheese over each assembled dish. Cover the dishes with aluminum foil. Bake for 15 minutes. Uncover and bake for an additional 20 to 25 minutes, or until the cheese and balsamella sauce are bubbly and the top is golden brown.
- Serve the cannelloni piping hot from the oven.
Notes
Adapted from The Glorious Vegetables of Italy
