This super tasty beef and mushroom cannelloni might just become a new favourite! A great alternative to lasagne, with the added bonus of not needing to make béchamel sauce.

Using fresh lasagne sheets is much easier than trying to stuff the mixture into small cannelloni tubes. They cook a little quicker too.

I’ve snuck plenty of veggies into the mince mixture, so you can get away with just a small side salad!

If you have a microplane grater, make this meal restaurant quality by shaving some fresh parmesan over the plated up dish.

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BEEF AND MUSHROOM CANNELLONI

Keyword: BEEF, MAIN MEALS

Difficulty: Easy

Ready In: 1 hour

Serves: 4

This super tasty beef and mushroom cannelloni might just become a new favourite! A great alternative to lasagne, with the added bonus of not needing to make béchamel sauce.

QUICK PRINT

Ingredients

CANNELLONI

200 g button mushrooms (7oz)
1 large carrot
1 brown onion
3 cloves garlic
1 Tbsp olive oil
500 g prime beef mince (1lb 2oz)
1 1/2 beef stock cubes
1 tsp Italian herbs
1 1/2 Tbsp tomato paste
200 g pesto flavoured canned tomatoes (7oz)
1/2 cup boiling water (125ml)
1/2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
400 g fresh lasagne sheets (14oz)
1 cup grated cheddar or Colby (100g)

SAUCE

1/2 beef stock cube
1/2 cup boiling water (125ml)
250 ml light cooking cream (8.5 fl.oz)
200 g pesto flavoured canned tomatoes (7oz)
1/2 tsp Italian herbs

TO SERVE

40 g baby spinach or rocket (1.4oz)
125 g cherry tomatoes (4.4oz)
4 tsp olive oil

Instructions

MAKE CANNELLONI FILLING
Finely dice mushrooms, carrot and onion. Crush garlic. Heat oil in a large non-stick pot on medium-high. Add mushrooms, carrot, onion and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, for 3-4 minutes, until just softened.
Add mince and cook, breaking up with a wooden spoon, until browned all over. Crumble in stock cubes, then stir in herbs and tomato paste. Add tomatoes, water and Worcestershire sauce. Simmer rapidly for about 15 minutes, until most of the liquid has evaporated. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
PREPARE SAUCE
While beef mixture simmers, mix stock and boiling water in a medium-large jug. Stir in cream, tomatoes and herbs. Season with salt and pepper.
ASSEMBLE CANNELLONI
Preheat oven to 190ºC (375ºF) fan bake. Spray a large baking dish with cooking oil. Spoon some of the mince along the short side of one of the pasta sheets. Roll up into a tube and cut the excess pasta off. Place in dish. Repeat until mince and pasta are used up. If you run out of room in the dish, you can stack the cannelloni on top of each other (just place a layer of sauce and cheese in between).
Pour sauce over the cannelloni and sprinkle with cheese. Bake for 25 minutes, until cheese is bubbling and golden and pasta is tender.
SERVE
Divide cannelloni between serving plates or bowls. Add a handful of rocket and a few cherry tomatoes. Drizzle with olive oil, if you like. A sprinkle of finely grated parmesan also makes a nice addition!

Recipe Notes

WINE MATCH: A Pinot Noir.
GLUTEN-FREE OPTION: Use gluten-free stock cubes. Make sure Worcestershire sauce is gluten-free. You could use gluten-free wraps instead of pasta (reduce cooking time by 5 minutes). Otherwise, make this like a lasagne and layer up dried gluten-free lasagne sheets, mince mixture, sauce and cheese. Cook for an extra 5-10 minutes.
INGREDIENT SWAPS / NOTES: If you don’t like mushrooms, you could swap for a 400g / 14oz can of brown lentils (drained) or 200g / 7oz finely diced pumpkin. Add at the same time as the canned tomatoes. Alternatively, just omit mushrooms and increase mince quantity to 600g / 1lb 5oz. You could swap light cooking cream for canned reduced cream. If you can’t find pesto flavoured canned tomatoes, use Italian flavoured (crushed or diced).
STORING AND REHEATING: Store individual portions in containers in the fridge and reheat in the microwave. Add salad just before serving.