Crab and Fennel Cannelloni Recipe with Cottage Cheese and Chives
This delicious seafood cannelloni recipe sees pasta tubes stuffed with crab meat, fennel and cottage cheese, before being baked in a simple bechamel sauce topped with parmesan cheese.
Servings 2 Servings
Calories 806kcal
Ingredients
- 125 g Cannelloni Tubes 10
- 35 g ⅓ Cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
For the Cannelloni Filling:
- 1 Small Fennel Bulb 150g
- 1 tablespoon Butter
- 2 Tins Shredded White Crab Meat 210g Net weight (This should be two 145g tins)
- 200 g Cottage Cheese ¾ Cup
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- 1 teaspoon Lemon Juice
- 20 g Chives ½ Cup
For the Bechamel Sauce:
- 30 g Butter 2 tablespoon
- 30 g Flour 4 tablespoon
- 400 ml Milk 1⅔ Cups
- 1 Small Onion 75g
- 1 Bay Leaf
- 1 Pinch Salt
- 1 Pinch White Pepper Be generous!
Instructions
- Remove any tough outer "leaves" from the fennel bulb and pull off any fronds. Chop the fronds and place them in a large mixing bowl, then cut the bulb into a 5mm (just under ¼") dice.
- Heat a 25cm or 10" frying pan over a medium-low heat, add the butter for the filling, and when it has melted, toss in the fennel, stir to coat and add a lid, then cook for 10-12 minutes to soften.
- Finely chop the chives and add most of them to the bowl with the fennel fronds; keep back a couple of tablespoons to garnish later.
- Drain the crab and add it to the bowl with the fennel fronds and chives.
- Add the cottage cheese to the crab meat, along with the salt and lemon juice. Have a taste at this point and add more salt or lemon juice to your taste.
- Add the milk to a 15cm or 6" saucepan, and heat it over a low heat.
- Cut the onion in half, peel it and trim the root. Add the onion to the milk along with the bay leaves and allow it to steep for 10-12 minutes. You do not want the milk to boil; you want to keep it hot but not boiling.
- By now, the fennel should have softened. Remove it from the pan, allow it to cool for 5 minutes and then stir it through the cannelloni filling.
- Transfer the filling to a piping bag, then fill the pasta tubes.
- Now, make the bechamel sauce. Begin by discarding the onion and bay leaf from the milk.
- Heat a 17cm or 7" saucepan over a low-medium heat, add the butter for the sauce, and when it has melted, add the flour and stir for a couple of minutes to cook out the flour.
- Stir in the milk little by little, making sure that all of the previous milk has been incorporated before you add any more. Keep going until you have a nice smooth white sauce, and then season with salt and white pepper, using your tastebuds to get this right. Then set it aside for a minute.
- Add a third of the bechamel sauce to the base of a 25cm by 15cm (10" x 6") baking dish, followed by the cannelloni tubes, then pour over the remaining bechamel sauce.
- Grate the parmesan cheese over the top of the bechamel sauce, then transfer the dish to the oven and bake for 40-45 minutes at 180°C or 350°F.
Nutrition
Serving: 1 | Calories: 806kcal | Carbohydrates: 79g | Protein: 48g | Fat: 34g | Saturated Fat: 18g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 11g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 146mg | Sodium: 2328mg | Fiber: 10g | Sugar: 12g
