Yummy! What a hit with toddler J! It’s very easy to make and you can add loads of different types of vegetables. It’s like lasagne but filled the ragu in cannelloni tubes. 🙂
I froze the left over and reheated for toddler J a different day. Do you agree with me that sometimes reheated frozen food taste so much better? 😄
Mum Tip: No salt for babies under 12 months old and very little the thereafter.
Served 2 adults and 2 toddlers
Ingredients for the Ragu
- 500 ground / minced beef (optional – go for lean & organic)
- 4 medium carrots (peeled & diced)
- 2 large red onion (diced)
- 2 cans (400gr / can) organic chopped tomatoes
- 3 large garlic cloves (crushed)
- 2 tbsp concentrared tomato paste
- 3 tbsp sweet paprika powder
- 1 tsp himalayian salt (add more if required)
- 2 tsp dried basil
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 cup water
Ingredients for the Bechamel Sauce
- 1 1/2 cup semi-skimmed milk
- 1 tbsp flour
- a pinch of himalayian salt
- some ground pepper
- 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1/8 tsp nutmeg powder
Other Ingredients
- 20 cannelloni tubes
- 1/2 cup grated cheese (I mixed parmesam & mature cheddar)
Method
- Fry onion and carrots in olive oil together until onion is golden brown. Add ground beef, garlic, salt, tomato paste, paprika and cumin powder.
- Fry until the meat is cooked, then add tomatoes, water and cover with a lid. Let it cooked in low heat for 30-40 minutes. (I cooked my one in a pressure cooker for 20 minutes and he meat came out so soft!)
- Check it every now and then, add more water if required. You want the sauce to be more liquid like rather than thick.
- Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees celcius.
- Heat up the milk with flour, salt, pepper and nutmeg powder. Keep stiring to avoid the milk sticking to the pot. The milk should have thickened up after a few minutes, add parmesan cheese and stir until it has melted.
- Add very little ragu on the tray first to avoid cannelloni from sticking, fill each tube with ragu and repeat until you have covered the whole tray.
- Cover the cannelloni with ragu completely, a layer of bechamel sauce and finish off with grated cheese at the end.
- Bake for 30-40 minutes or until the cheese is golden brown and the cannelloni is soft. Let it cool down slighly for 10 minutes before serving.
- Suitable for freezing.