Chef Paul McDonald's Beef & Cashew Cannelloni from Today with Maura and Dáithí.
Ingredients
- 25g garlic peeled &chopped
- 125g onion peeled & chopped
- 45g veg/ rapeseed oil
- 1 kg minced beef
- 325g tomato paste
- 50g cashew nuts (or favourite) lightly chopped
- 8 g rosemary picked and chopped
- 30g mason sea salt ( less if using fine salt) "season to taste"
- 1.2kg good tomato sauce (your own, if you're handy in the kitchen but shop bought is fine too)
- 1 box cannelloni tubes
- 150g grated Parmesan
- 150g cream
- Jar of pesto
Method
- Sweat the onions and garlic in oil on a medium heat until translucent.
- Add mince and cook over a high heat until browned and the liquid that comes from the mince has evaporated, now add the tomato paste, cashew nuts and rosemary, cook this out for 5 mins.
- Now add the salt, mix well and adjust seasoning as you see fit, translate to a good sized tray to cool a little.
- Once cooled to a temperature you can handle fill the cannelloni tubes by hand,this is best done wearing gloves.
- Pour 400g of the tomato sauce into a tray measuring 30cmx 20cm
- Lay the filler cannelloni tubes onto of this fitting them in as snug as possible, now cover with another layer of tomato sauce around 400g ensure all pasta is covered in tomato sauce.
- Cover with a sheet of greaseproof paper and then wrap tightly in tin foil.
- Place in the oven at 170oc for 45 minutes.
- Once cooked remove from the oven, allow to cool a little. At this stage you can store until needed.
- Now the cannelloni should be a little dryer looking, so add another layer of tomato sauce (400g) the 150g of cream can be poured over in a semi-even fashion as can the grated Parmesan.
- Place back in the oven with no tinfoil or parchment at 180oc and cook for another 15 minutes or until the top is bubbling and golden.
- Serve onto hot plates and top with a little basil pesto
