Cannelloni Stuffed with Meat

Ingredients

• •2 tablespoons olive oil
• •1 onion, very finely chopped
• •1 1/2 cups very lean ground beef
• •1/2 cup finely chopped cooked ham
• •1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
• •2 tablespoons tomato paste, softened in
• •1 tablespoon warm water
• •1 egg
• •egg pasta sheets made with 2 eggs
• •3 cups béchamel sauce
• •1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• •3 tablespoons butter
• •salt and ground black pepper

Directions

1. 1Prepare the meat filling by heating the oil in a medium saucepan. Add the onion and sauté gently until translucent. Stir in the beef, crumbling it with a fork, and stirring constantly until it has lost its raw, red color. Cook for about 3 to 4 minutes.
2. 2Remove from the heat and turn the beef mixture into a bowl with the ham and parsley. Add the tomato paste mixture and the egg, and mix well. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside
3. 3Make the egg pasta sheets. Do no let the pasta dry before cutting it into rectangles, about 5 to 6 inches long and as wide as they come from the machine (3 inches if you are not using a pasta machine).
4. 4Bring a very large pan of water to a boil. Place a large bowl of cold water near the stove. Cover a work surface with a tablecloth. Add salt to the rapidly boiling water. Drop in three or four of the egg pasta rectangles. Cook very briefly for about 30 seconds. Plunge them into the cold water, shake off the excess and lay them out flat on the tablecloth. Continue until all the pasta has been cooked in this way.
5. 5Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Select a shallow casserole large enough to take all the cannelloni in one layer. Butter the casserole and smear about 2 to 3 tablespoons of béchamel sauce over the bottom.
6. 6Stir about a third of the sauce into the meat filling. Spread a thin layer of filling on each pasta rectangle. Roll the rectangles up loosely starting from a long side, jelly roll style. Place the cannelloni in the casserole with their edges underneath.
7. 7Spoon the rest of the sauce over the cannelloni, pushing a little down between each pasta roll. Sprinkle the top with grated Parmesan and dot with butter. Bake for about 20 minutes. Let rest for 5 to 8 minutes before serving on warmed plates.