Cooking Recipe Chicken Cannelloni With Cheese Sauce

Recipe Ingredients

1 3/4 c Chicken, cooked & diced

1 lb Lasagna Noodles

2 tb Butter or Margarine

2 tb Olive oil

2 Cloves Garlic, finely

-chopped

1 sm Onion, finely chopped

4 oz Mushrooms, chopped

1 lg Egg, beaten

2 tb Heavy Cream or Half-and-Half

1/4 ts Thyme

1/2 ts Salt

1 bn Spinach, cooked until

CHEESE SAUCE

3 tb Butter or Margarine

4 tb Flour

1 1/2 c Chicken Broth

3 c Half-and-Half

Salt and Pepper to taste

1 c Parmesan Cheese

1/2 c (to 1 cup) Mozzarella

-Cheese, grated (opt)

Spaghetti Sauce (homemade

-or store bought) (opt)

Directions

THE NIGHT BEFORE (or early in the day): Cook lasagna noodles in 6 qts.
boiling water for 5-7 minutes or until tender; drain, wipe noodles
dry with a clean/dry cloth, lay flat on waxed paper.

While noodles are cooking, melt butter and olive oil in a large
skillet. Saute onion, garlic and mushrooms until they're tender; add
remove from heat; set aside.

Place cooked chicken in food processor and pulse until chicken
resembles a tuna salad mixture. Combine chicken with the onions,
garlic, mushrooms and the fat in which they were sauteed; add egg,
cream and seasonings. Add spinach (cooked) and mix well.

Cut each lasagna noodle into 2 or 3 pieces--each piece should be 3 to
4 inches long; place a tablespoonful of the chicken filling on each
piece and roll into a tubular shape. If you don't want to make
canneloni, just layer the ingredients like you would for lasagna.

Arrange rolls next to each other, one layer deep, in a buttered baking
dish; set aside while you prepare the cheese sauce.

CHEESE SAUCE: Melt butter then add the flour and cook for a few
minutes to get rid of the floury taste. Gradually add the chicken
broth, whisking constantly to prevent lumps; add cream, salt and
pepper. Cook, stirring constantly, until thickened and smooth; remove
from heat. Stir in 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese and mix well.

I like to use, both, red and white sauce on this one. I spoon over a
strip of the white sauce, next to it I spoon on some red; keep doing
that across the dish until the sauce covers the noodles. The
red/white pattern makes it look pretty and gives the dish a little
more flavor. It also cuts back on some of the fat.

Spoon sauce over cannelloni in baking dish; sprinkle with remaining
Parmesan cheese and Mozzarella cheese, if used; refrigerate until
you're ready to bake it.

BEFORE SERVING: Preheat broiler; place cannelloni 4-5 inches from
heat and broil for 10 minutes or until sauce bubbles and top browns.
If you'll be making lasagna, bake in a 350-degree oven for 25-30
minutes, or until it's bubbly and the top is browned a bit.

Categories matching this recipe

Pasta