Italian Sausage and Ricotta Cannelloni

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180°C.
   
2. To make the tomato sauce, heat olive oil over low heat in a saucepan.
3. Add onions and garlic to oil and sweat on low heat, until translucent.
   
4. Crush in tinned tomatoes by hand and add basil and a pinch of salt.
   
5. Cook on low for 30-45 minutes, stirring occasionally and breaking up tomatoes with the back of a wooden spoon.
6. For the cannelloni filling, heat olive oil in a pan over medium high heat.
7. Fry sausage pieces until golden brown.
8. Add garlic, chilli and fennel seeds and cook until fragrant, breaking up the sausage until ground while they cook.
9. Pour into a mixing bowl, add ricotta, baby spinach and Parmesan and stir to combine. Taste the mix and season.
10. Spoon into a piping bag and set aside.
11. For the bechamel, melt butter over medium heat in a saucepan.
12. Whisk in the flour and nutmeg and cook, stirring constantly, until deeply golden.
    
13. Bit by bit, whisk in the milk over medium heat. Continue to whisk whilst heating until the sauce is smooth and noticeably thickened, then turn off the heat.
14. Whisk in Parmesan and season to taste.
15. Cover with a lid to prevent a skin forming.
16. Pour half of the tomato sauce into the base of a large oven dish (approximately 25x40cm).
17. Pipe filling into cannelloni tubes, then place them in a single layer in your oven dish.
18. Top with remaining tomato sauce, cover with bechamel and finish with Parmesan.
19. Bake uncovered for 30-35 minutes, until bubbling at the sides and top is golden brown. You can use the grill setting at the end to brown the top further if needed.
20. Remove from the oven and cool for at least 10 minutes.
21. Serve and enjoy with family and friends!