Main dish

Jamie Oliver's Incredible Baked Cauliflower and Broccoli Cannelloni recipe

Name: Jamie Oliver's Incredible Baked Cauliflower and Broccoli Cannelloni
Prep time: 1 h
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 1 h 30 min
Yield: 6
Ingredients: 500g broccoli, chopped; 500g white cauliflower, chopped; 7 cloves of garlic, crushed; small bunch fresh thyme; 25g anchovy fillets in oil, drained and chopped (reserve the oil); 2-3 dried chillis, crumbled; salt and pepper; 250g cannelloni tubes; 500ml passata; 1 tbsp red wine vinegar; 500ml crème fraîche (half fat is fine); 150g Parmesan cheese, grated; 1 handful of fresh basil; 200g buffalo mozzarella; extra virgin olive oil; salt and pepper

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If you liked Jamie's Summer Veg Lasagne and can afford more than 30 minutes in the kitchen then try this recipe. You'll be rewarded with a wonderful and unusual dish, which has an incredible depth of flavour.

Prep1h
Cook30m
Total1h 30m

anchovies italian jamie-oliver pasta

After cooking Jamie Oliver’s Summer Veg Lasagne it reminded me of another excellent pasta dish that appears in Jamie at Home: Incredible Baked Cauliflower and Broccoli Cannelloni.

Like Summer Veg Lasagne it contains mashed vegetables, flavoured with garlic and anchovies, which have been overcooked to intensify their taste. I actually prefer this as it has a tomato sauce (as opposed to the all-white sauce of the lasagne) and a crème fraîche topping. After cooking this I stopped making béchemal sauce as the crème fraîche version saves time and tastes fantastic. Torn buffalo mozzarella, scattered over the sauce and baked until golden brown, makes it even better.

This flavour-packed dish is definitely not a 30 minute meal but if you enjoyed Summer Veg Lasagne, I urge you to give it a go. It tastes delicious, makes a generous amount, reheats well and can be frozen.

Notes

The original recipe advises using 500ml of passata but if you have a 700ml jar then the extra 200ml will do no harm.

I use a dish that's approximately 32cm x 24cm and it fits 250g of dried cannelloni tubes (around 18 tubes). 1 kilo of vegetables fills the tubes generously. If I don't have enough cauliflower and broccoli I top up the veg with frozen peas and it tastes great.

Recipe credit

Jamie at Home (affiliate link) by Jamie Oliver

Recipe

Jamie Oliver's Incredible Baked Cauliflower and Broccoli Cannelloni

Prep1h
Cook30m
Total1h 30m

Serves: 6

Ingredients

Vegetable stuffed cannelloni

500g broccoli, chopped
500g white cauliflower, chopped
7 cloves of garlic, crushed
small bunch fresh thyme
25g anchovy fillets in oil, drained and chopped (reserve the oil)
2-3 dried chillis, crumbled
salt and pepper
250g cannelloni tubes

Sauce

500ml passata
1 tbsp red wine vinegar

Topping

500ml crème fraîche (half fat is fine)
150g Parmesan cheese, grated
1 handful of fresh basil
200g buffalo mozzarella
extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper

Method

Preheat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan) and fill and boil the kettle.
Pour the boiled water into a large saucepan along with some salt and add 500g of chopped broccoli and 500g of chopped cauliflower. Boil for 5-6 minutes then drain the vegetables into a colander, reserving the water.
Pour the anchovy oil into a large saucepan (I used the saucepan I cooked the vegetables in) and add 7 cloves of garlic. Fry for a minute then add 25g of anchovies, 2-3 dried chillis and a small bunch of fresh thyme. Fry for another minute then add the cooked broccoli and cauliflower along with 4 tablespoons of the reserved water. Stir well, reduce the heat and put a lid on the saucepan, leaving a small gap. Cook for around 15-20 minutes, stirring regularly and remove the lid for the last 5 minutes to allow the water to evaporate.
Once the vegetables are soft, take a potato masher and mash the vegetables until they're relatively smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste and allow the mixture to cool.
Pour 500ml of passata into an ovenproof dish that will comfortably house the cannelloni tubes (I used a 32cm x 24cm dish - if you're not sure about the dish size put the dried cannelloni tubes into the empty dish to check). Drizzle over 1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar and a pinch of salt.
Mix 500ml of crème fraîche in a bowl with 75g of Parmesan (150g in total), a little salt and pepper and 2 tablespoons of the reserved water from the vegetables.
Once the vegetable mixture has cooled, transfer it to a piping bag (or a strong sandwich bag with the corner cut off) and squeeze the filling into the cannelloni tubes. Stuff each tube well and place on top of the passata in a single layer until you have used up all of the cannelloni tubes.
Sprinkle a handful of fresh basil leaves over the cannelloni then pour over the white sauce. Season with black pepper and the remaining 75g of Parmesan then tear and scatter 200g of mozzarella over the sauce.
Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil then bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes until the topping has turned golden brown.