Blood Sausage Cannelloni

In my True Blood excitement I have been experimenting with possible recipes for a really blood curdling meal… in the past few days I have centred my attention on drinks and sorbets which are stunning shades of red. But what about a dish which includes actual blood? Not remotely human of course…

Just over a year ago I had a delightful Cannelloni dish which was stuffed with Morcilla sausage at La Herradura in Los Montensinos, near Torrevieja in Spain. It was one of the most heavenly dishes I have ever tasted – and I would challenge even the most anti-blood sausage person to find fault with the dish! Their version was served, if I recall correctly, with a mushroom sauce. But I opted to stick with the red theme by making a light tomato sauce to go with mine!

4 cannelloni tubes

Morcilla Filling:-

1 small onion, peeled, halved and finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
1tsp chopped thyme or oregano leaves
2tbsp olive oil
400g Skinned & Chopped Spanish Morcilla Sausage
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2tsp flour
1 Can of Chopped Tomatoes in Tomato Juice.
100ml red wine

For the cheese sauce:-

50g butter
50g flour
500ml hot milk
Salt and freshly ground white pepper
4tbls freshly grated parmesan
2-3tbsp double cream
1 egg yolk

First, make the morcilla stuffing. Heat half the olive oil in a large pan – toss in the chopped morcilla and lightly coloured. Drain and set aside.

Add the rest of the oil to the saucepan and fry the onion, garlic and thyme. Add the meat, flour and chopped tomatoes. Stir well. Add the wine and bring to the boil, season and simmer for around 15-20 minutes until the sauce is thickened. Leave to cool.

While the stuffing is cooling make the cheese sauce.  Melt the butter in a pan and stir in the flour then gradually whisk in the hot milk to make a smooth sauce. Try to do this very slowly for the best results. Season and simmer very gently for about 30 minutes, giving it a good whisk every so often. Stir in the Parmesan and cream and re-season. Remove from the heat, leave to cool a little and stir in the egg yolk.

Pre-heat the oven to 220C/gas mark 7.

Stuff the Morcilla filling into the cannelloni. Put in a small dish lightly oiled dish (a gratin dish is very handy here).  Add a drizzle of the cheese sauce over the top. Pop into the oven for 15-20 minutes. Serve hot with salad.