Olive Garden style Cannelloni al Forno

search

Olive Garden style Cannelloni al Forno

The trick to this Olive Garden-style Cannelloni al Forno recipe is processing the ingredients in a blender to achieve the smooth texture this dish is known for. This copycat recipe is spot on in the flavor department too.

Preparation Time3 min

Ingredients

  • 1 cup red onion, diced
  • 1/2 cup celery, diced
  • 1/3 cup carrot, diced
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1 pound ground veal
  • 1 pound ground mild Italian sausage
  • 1 pound ground chicken
  • 1/2 cup white wine
  • 1 1/4 cup beef broth
  • 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
  • 1 bay leaf
  • Salt, to taste
  • Pepper, to taste
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 2 tablespoons flour
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 3/4 cup Parmesean cheese, freshly ground
  • Fresh pasta (highly recommended but could use dried cannelloni tubes)
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1 (16-ounce) jar high quality marinara sauce
  • 1/2 pound Fontina cheese, grated
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 5 tablespoons butter
  • 1/4 cup Parmesean cheese, grated

Instructions

 

  1. Heat the olive oil in a deep skillet. Add onion, celery, and carrot, and cook over moderate heat until softened.
     
  2. Add the garlic, and cook 1 minute. Add veal, pork, and chicken. Cook, stirring occasionally, until meat is no longer pink. Drain excess liquid and grease thoroughly.
     
  3. Add wine, and reduce for 1 minute. Stir in broth. Add herbs, bay leaf, and salt and pepper.
     
  4. Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes. Uncover, and reduce until almost dry. Discard bay leaf. Set aside to cool.
     
  5. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a saucepan set over moderately low heat. Whisk in flour for approximately 2 minutes. Whisk in milk, grated nutmeg, and salt and pepper.
     
  6. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes or until thickened. Stir in parsley and 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese.
     
  7. Transfer the cooled meat mixture to a large bowl. Mix in egg yolks. Mix in the cheese and parsley sauce. Set aside to cool.
     
  8. In a medium size bowl, combine flour and salt. Make a well in the flour, add the slightly beaten egg, and mix. Mixture should form a stiff dough. If needed, stir in 1 to 2 tablespoons water.
     
  9. On a lightly floured surface, knead dough for about 3 to 4 minutes. With a pasta machine or by hand roll dough out to desired thickness (recommend the #5 thickness setting on hand-crank pasta machine). Use machine or knife to cut into 4- x 5-inch strips.
     
  10. In a pot of boiling salted water, cook the noodles a few at a time until al dente. This should take only a minute or two with fresh pasta. Transfer to a bowl of cold water. Spread the noodles in one layer on paper towels to drain.
     
  11. Place 1/3 of the cooled meat and parsley sauce mix into a blender or food processor. Pulse or blend until a smooth texture is achieved, about 2 minutes. Repeat with remaining mixture until all filling ingredients are processed.
     
  12. Prepare Fontina Cheese Sauce by placing Fontina, cream, butter and Parmesan in a double boiler or a bowl in a saucepan of simmering water. Heat, stirring occasionally, until the cheeses have melted and the sauce is smooth and hot.
     
  13. Cover bottom of 9 x 13-inch baking dish with 1/4 inch of marinara sauce. Spoon 1/4 cup of the filling down the center of one noodle, and roll the noodle to enclose the filing. Transfer the cannelloni, seam side down, to 9 x 13-inch baking dish. Repeat with the remaining noodles and filling, arranging in single layer.
     
  14. Ladle the remaining marinara sauce on one side of the cannelloni, leaving the other 1/2 of each tube without sauce. Spread the Fontina cheese sauce on the other 1/2 of the cannelloni and sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan cheese.
     
  15. Bake at 400 degrees F for 10 minutes, or until bubbling. Run under the broiler about 4 inches from the heat for 2 minutes, or until golden.

 

Your Recently Viewed Recipes

Leave a Comment

Rate

Cancel Reply to Comment

Thanks for your comment. Don't forget to share!

I would love to make this and I have it in my head to make it in a lasagna form, but I have a question. In step 6, it says to add parsley. How much? It's not listed in the ingredients.

I just threw in a few tbs. of dried parsley. Though I made several adjustments due to ingredient availability, it turned out really good.

Close

Report Inappropriate Comment

Are you sure you would like to report this comment? It will be flagged for our moderators to take action.

Thank you for taking the time to improve the content on our site.

Close Window