"It is well to remember that the entire population of the universe, with one trifling exception, is composed of others." A.Holmes

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Jamie Oliver's Incredible Baked Cauliflower & Broccoli Cannelloni

This is the first recipe I tried out of my new Jamie Oliver Cook Book. Jamies' book is based on the seasons in a garden and what other meats and produce are most available in particular seasons. As our garden and our daughter's garden are producing abundances of tomatoes and broccoli and cauliflower now, I started in his late summer / early fall section with 'Incredible Baked Cauliflower and Broccoli Cannelloni .
Ingredients
  • sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 pound broccoli & 1 pound cauliflower, washed , florets and stems chopped(*from our daughter's garden~ and he really does mean CHOPPED!)
  • olive oil
  • 7 cloves garlic, peeled and finely sliced
  • small bunch of fresh thyme, leaves picked (*from our herb garden)
  • 1 ounce can best quality anchovies in oil, drained and chopped, oil reserved
  • 2-3 small dried chilies, crumbled
  • 2 cups good quality tomato sauce. ( *tomato sauce made from our garden tomatoes)
  • good quality red-wine vinegar
  • 2 cups creme' fraiche
  • 7 ounces finely grated Parmesan cheese
  • 16 cannelloni tubes
  • small bunch of fresh basil, leaves picked ( *from our daughter's garden)
  • 7 ounces mozzarella cheese (*Jamie says "tear"over the recipe, but I grated this & sprinkled liberally over the top)
  • extra virgin olive oil
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Bring a large sauce pan of salted water to boil and drop in the chopped broccoli and cauliflower. Boil for 5-6 minutes, until cooked, then drain in colander reserving some of the cooking water(*You don't need to save more than 2 cups). Heat a wide saucepan, pour in a couple good glugs of olive oil and add the garlic. Fry for a few seconds, then add the thyme leaves, anchovies, anchovy oil and chilies and continue frying for a few seconds more before adding the cooked broccoli and cauliflower with around 4 tablespoons of the reserved cooking water. Stir everything together, put a lid on the pan leaving a little gap, and cook slowly for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring regularly-overcooking the veg not only intensifies their flavor but gives you the texture you need for this recipe. Remove the lid for the last 5 minutes to let the moisture evaporate, then use a potato masher to crush the veg. Take the saucepan off the heat, taste the vegetables and season carefully with salt and pepper.( *This alone would make a delicious veg dish!) Spread the mixture on a baking sheet to cool. Meanwhile, get yourself another baking dish or roasting pan ( the right size for fitting the cannelloni tubes snugly side by side ) and pour in the tomato sauce with a pinch of salt and a swig of red wine vinegar. (*Jamie does not say anywhere to pre-boil the cannelloni, but I did anyway not trusting it to be done enough otherwise. I am glad I did. I precooked the tubes for about 6 minutes and they were easy to handle and baked up perfect) Now, to make a really quick and easy white sauce, mix the creme' fraiche with half the Parmesan, a sprinkling of salt and pepper and a little of the cooking water to thin it down. Spoon your cooled broccoli and cauliflower mixture into the tubes. (*Jamie proceeds to talk about turning a sandwich bag into a squeeze bag to squirt into the tubes, which I did, then gave up and spooned it into the tubes which turned out to be way easier and less messy. I stood the tubes in a chunky glass to stand them up for easier filling.) Fill the tubes up~don't be stingy!~and place them in a single layer on top of the sauce. Lay the basil leaves over the cannelloni and spoon your white sauce evenly over the top. Season with black pepper, sprinkle over the remaining Parmesan and tear over the Mozzarella. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and bake for 30 to 40 minutes , or until golden on top. This is delicious! I will make this many more times, but after making it for the first time following Jamies' advice I have decided he probably has help with the clean up because I used most of my big pans and bowls. I know now how to streamline the making of this recipe without changing a thing. So very worth making! Thank-you Jamie~ NOTE: I have posted Jamie's recipe according to his book, any comments with an asterisk are mine. I have not added all Jamies' wonderful comments on gardening, his experiences and colorful anecdotes because it is HIS book and well worth purchasing for it's beauty and practicality. I have added some of my own remarks to make some things more clear or explain some things that might be very clear to the British reader but not to many Americans.

15 comments:

Debbie said...

Your finished product looks delicious, but I've never even seen an anchovie. With my reduced number of family members I rarely make anything that consists of more than 4 ingredients, unless its a dessert. Still....it looks good!
Deb

Karen said...

Yummy! Sounds like a fabulous cookbook!

Southern Comfort said...

Standing the cannelloni in the glass is a great hint on how to stuff those things. I've never been successful,I tear them usually. I've got to try this recipe, thanks.

Wobegon Cottage said...

Looks like a winner and I am sure he has a lot of help in the clean up department. If you watch the cooking shows I don't think any of the cooks do the clean up...do you?

Susie said...

Kathy that looks so yummy! My hubbie and I love pasta dishes. Thanks for sharing the recipe.

Anonymous said...

What an interesting and delicious sounding recipe Kathy. We've had a solid week of heavy rain and cooler temps. This would be so good for supper one night and I bet the aroma is wonderful. Blessings to you and your family.

Deanna said...

This sounds like a wonderful cookbook with loads of ideas to try.

May you have a super week-end!
I'm so glad it's Friday!!!!!!
d

KathyB. said...

lice, no, I don't think they do...that includes your brother, the best chef/cook in our home!

Susie, did you grow cauliflowers and broccoli in your garden this year?

Mildred,I have been looking forward to a cooler weather here too but summer seems to be hanging on giving us very warm weather for our area and the evenings we are still not needing to get a fire going or turn on the furnace...so your evenings sound wonderful to me.

Deanna, Jamie's show on the food network is a very good indication of his book, and it is great. Thanks, you have a wonderful weekend too!

A. Joy said...

This was the first recipe he made on his show that we tried. We've now made it 3 times, I never thought to pre boil the canneloni before stuffing them. The first time they didn't cook all the way but the last 2 times they were fine. I found that by the 3rd time I made this, I knew what I was doing so was able to keep things contained to a smaller amount of pans and dishes and it went much more quickly. I do wish I could do the mozzerlla on top like he does. Oh well.

Leslie said...

I am a big Jamie Oliver fan. Loved his school project where he went to the schools to try to change the horrible diet they were getting. I was really surprised how bad the diets are in GB, I thought they were even worse than here in the US. So many children had never tasted a vegetable, having been fed only processed foods. Anyway, the book looks like one I would love. I am printing this recipe, It does have some uncommon ingredients and quite a few steps but I have found those are the dishes that are extra special tasting. Having used so many homegrown ingredients must have made this extra delicious. Thanks for sharing.

Mary Bergfeld said...

These look wonderful. He is a marvelous chef and the cookbook sounds great.

Anonymous said...

It looks yummy except no anchovies for us but then again haven't been eaten much meat or dairy products lately though.

Amy

http://goatpod2.wordpress.com

Mary said...

I could easily eat the dish with all of the ingredients. It sounds incredible. But in my household it would not go over. I am looking forward to more of the recipes. I might just be able to make this one without including the things that the picky eater does not like.:)

KathyB. said...

A.Joy, your rendition of this recipe was delicious, but I have to admit your lactose intolerance does force you to leave out the best ingredients...most of the cheeses!

Leslie, I think you will love the book...and I googled some of the more unusual ingredients to see just what they were and many of them can easily be substituted with very common items in our supermarkets.

Amy, I think you could easily leave out the anchovies and still be very happy with this dish.

Mary, are you the picky eater, or your husband? I am the picky eater in this family....my poor husband!

Connie said...

That looks so yummy, Kathy. Thank you for sharing the recipe.