500gdried cannelloni tubes(you can find online if not in a supermarket)
250gmozzarella, cut into little chunks to dot on the top at the end
Filling
400gItalian sausages, skins removed and sausage meat finely chopped(or use any sausage with some nice flavour like fennel). Nb: it's important to cut the sausage meat quite finely as it needs to be piped.
1onion, chopped finely
2sticks of celery, chopped finely
4sage leaves, chopped
100mlred wine
400gricotta
1egg, beaten
100gfresh or dried breadcrumbs
Sauce
4tbspolive oil
1garlic cloved, thinly chopped
4basil leaves
600gpassata(use tinned tomatoes & add some garlic & herbs if you do'nt have passata)
salt and pepper for seasoning
Instructions
In a hot frying pan, place the broken up sausage meat and cook until it goes a little brown and the fat renders. Then remove and set to the side.
In the same pan (with any fat from the sausages), add the celery, onion, sage and cook until softened - approx 3mins. Next, add the red wine and reduce it by half before returning the sausage meat to the pan and cooking for approx 10mins or until the liquid is a little syrupy.
Take off the heat and cool a little, then add the ricotta, 1/2 of the parmesan, the beaten egg, and the breadcrumbs and mix well. Season to taste.
Sauce
In a saucepan, add 3 tbsp of olive oil, garlic and basil and cook for a minute before adding the passata and cooking for approx 10mins on medium heat with a lid half on. Season with salt and pepper. (You don't want it to go too thick as the pasta cooks in the sauce).
Filling the cannelloni
Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan.Take a piping bag and cut the bottom to approx 2 cm so the mixture can squeeze out.Place the sausage mixture into a piping bag and gently squeeze the mixture into each tube ensuring they are nice and full.
In an ovenproof dish, light;y oil the surface before spooning some of the sauce into the dish - approx 1 cm.Lay the filled cannelloni on top and then spoon the rest of the sauce over the top.
Scatter the mozzarella and remaining parmesan over the top, cover the dish with foil, making sure to seal all the way around the edge. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes, then remove the foil and cook for a further 10 minutes.
Let it cool for a few minutes before serving. Add some more parmesan and some cracked pepper.