Canalones (Cannelloni)

History

"Canalones" is the Spanish spelling of the Italian cannelloni — a wide, cylindrical pasta rolled around a filling and used in Italian cooking with meat, fish, or vegetable stuffings. Canelones entered Spanish cookery by way of Catalonia: culinary histories record that the imitation of Italian canelones was introduced by the Italian cooks of some bourgeois Barcelona families in the 19th century, after which it spread across all social classes with local adaptations. (Its "invention" is popularly attributed to the composer Gioachino Rossini and placed in southern Italy, but this is a repeated legend rather than a documented fact.) The recipe printed here comes from La Mejor Cocinera. Recetas de Cocina, a general Spanish home cookbook issued by Editorial Calleja in Madrid; the authorship is anonymous, and the earliest firmly located editions date to about 1921 (a 1923 printing also exists). As the book gives it, the dish is a plain home preparation: the pasta tubes are soaked in hot water for about an hour, then filled with a picadillo of cured ham (jamón), hen breast (pechugas de gallina), and parsley, bound in a sauce of butter (manteca de vaca), flour, and a glass of milk; the tubes are rolled into cylinders, baked, sprinkled with queso de bola and grated Parma cheese, and napped with a meat or tomato béchamel. Beyond this, the historical record does not document anything specific to this individual recipe — in particular, no source establishes it as a marker of social status or class.

Ingredients

• canalones (pasta tubes)
• jamón (cured ham)
• chicken breasts (pechugas de gallina)
• parsley
• manteca de vaca (beef lard)
• flour
• 1 glass milk
• salt
• cheese (queso de bola and Parmigiano-Reggiano)
• bechamel sauce (bechamelle de carne o de tomate)

Instructions

1. Soak the canalones (pasta tubes) in hot water for about one hour until softened.
2. While they soak, prepare a fine filling (picadillo) of chopped jamón (cured ham), chicken breasts, and parsley.
3. In a pan over medium heat, warm the manteca de vaca (beef lard). Stir in flour to make a roux, then add the milk and a glass of milk, stirring well until smooth.
4. Bring to a boil, then add the chopped ham, chicken, and parsley filling. Season with salt and simmer until the sauce thickens.
5. Drain the softened canalones and fill each one with the mixture, folding or pinching the edges to form a tube shape.
6. Arrange the filled canalones in a baking dish. Sprinkle generously with grated queso de bola (smoked cheese) and Parmigiano-Reggiano. Cover completely with the bechamel sauce (either meat-based or tomato-based).
7. Bake in the oven until golden and the sauce is set.