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Posts Tagged ‘Bechamel’

Crab Canelones

Posted in Food, Pasta, Shellfish, Spanish, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on 20 July 2025| Leave a Comment »

A beautiful Spanish pasta dish made with fantastic Lambay crab. The crab is a bit pricy but it’s worth it for this luxurious dish. Our fishmonger fortunately sells both prepared brown and white crab meat and also shellfish stock which makes this a tad easier.

Wine Suggestion: The richness of this dish demands a fuller-richer white and while this means that Chardonnay was our original thought, we wanted to keep it Spanish given the origin of the dish. Initially we thought a good white Rioja, like the Urbina Blanco Crianza (currently 2016 and 9 years old) which would have been excellent. Instead we stepped sideways and opened the Dominio de Tares Cepas Viejas Godello, an old-vine gem that is fermented in cask and aged on it’s lees to give richness and depth over a lemon, grapefruit and apple fruit flavours, a creamy texture and refined fresh structure.

Crab Canelones – serves 6

  • 45ml olive oil
  • 45g plain flour
  • 500ml fresh shellfish stock (or you could use chicken stock)
  • 300ml double cream
  • a good grating of nutmeg
  • 80g finely grated Manchego, plus extra for the top

FOR THE FILLING:

  • 60ml olive oil
  • 1 small shallot, finely chopped
  • 2 red chillies, finely chopped
  • 3 garlic cloves, finely sliced
  • 50g brown crab meat
  • 500g ripe tomatoes, diced
  • 150ml shellfish stock (or chicken stock)
  • 500g white crab meat
  • 15g tarragon, finely chopped
  • 250g dried cannelloni tubes

Make the bechamel first. Heat the oil in a saucepan over a medium heat. Stir in the flour and cook for a minute, then gradually add the stock, stirring continuously, until you have a smooth, thick sauce. Add the cream, nutmeg and cheese and season, then set aside.

Heat the olive oil for the filling in a separate saucepan over a very low heat. Add the shallot, chillies and garlic and cook over a very low heat for 15 minutes.

Increase the heat to medium high and add the brown crab meat and fry for 1 minute, then add the tomatoes and the stock. Season and cook for 15 minutes, then take off the heat and stir in the white crab meat and chopped tarragon.

Blanch the pasta tubes in boiling water for 3 minutes, then gently drain and cool under cold running water.

Fill each pasta tube with the crab mixture and fit them snugly into an ovenproof dish, then pour over the bechamel. Scatter over a little more grated cheese, then bake for about 30 minutes or until golden and bubbling. Serve with a green salad.

(Original recipe from The Spanish Home Kitchen by José Pizarro, Hardie Grant, 2022.)

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Lasagne

Posted in Beef, Food, Pasta, Pork, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on 30 January 2025| Leave a Comment »

Just a reminder that a big lasagne is a very good thing to have. We sometimes divide it up into smaller dishes and freeze some to finish off cooking another day.

Wine Suggestion: Our personal prejudice here is for Sangiovese every time with Lasagne, though we know this is not the only grape that works. That said we couldn’t go past the Boscarelli “Prugnolo” Rosso di Montepulciano which comes from a lovely hilltop DO in Tuscany.

Lasagne – serves 8

  • 350-400g fresh lasagne sheets
  • nutmeg
  • 1 ball of mozzarella, torn

FOR THE RAGU:

  • 2-3 tbsp oil
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 2 carrots, finely chopped
  • 2 celery stalks, finely chopped
  • 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
  • 4 rashers of smoked streaky bacon, finely chopped
  • 500g beef mince
  • 500g pork mince
  • 175ml red wine
  • 750ml beef stock/chicken stock
  • 2 tbsp tomato purée
  • 2 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes
  • 1 bay leaf
  • a sprig of rosemary

FOR THE BECHAMEL:

  • 70g butter
  • 70g plain flour
  • 1 litre whole milk
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 100g Parmesan, freshly grated

Start with the ragu. You need to heat the oil in a large wide pan, then add the onions, carrots, celery and garlic and fry gently until softend but not coloured.

Add the bacon, beef and pork and continue frying until the meat has changed colour.

Pour in the red wine and increase the heat so that it comes to the boil. Reduce the heat again and add the stock, tomato purée and tinned tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper and add the bay and rosemary. Leave to cook now over a medium-low heat for about 1½ hours or until you have a rich sauce.

Meanwhile, make the bechamel. Melt the butter in a large pan over a medium heat, add the flour and stir to make a paste. Cook for a minute, then take the pan off the heat and gradually whisk in the milk until you have a smooth sauce. Add the bay leaf, then return the pan to the heat and bring the boil, stirring constantly. Keep cooking until you have a smooth and thick sauce. Remove the bay leaf and stir in two-thirds of the grated Parmesan and season to taste.

Heat the oven to 180C/Fan 160C.

You will need a deep lasagne dish – about 20 x 30 cm.

Put a large spoonful of the ragu in the bottom of the lasagne dish and add a layer of lasagne sheets. Top with a layer of ragu and a drizzle of bechamel (not a full layer or you will run out), then another layer of lasagne sheets. Keep going like this until you have used up all the ingredients, finishing with a good layer of bechamel. Grate over a little nutmeg, then add the torn mozzarella and the rest of the Parmesan.

Bake for 45-50 minutes or until bubbling and golden brown. Allow to sit for 5-10 minutes when it comes out of the oven so it’s easier to cut. Serve with a green salad and garlic bread if you like.

(Original recipe from Rick Stein’s Food Stories, BBC Books, Penguin: Random House, 2024.)

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