Stuffed wild cannelloni

If you're a fan of lasagne and pasta dishes in general, this dish will definitely appeal to you too. These are filled with minced venison, but I'm sure it would be good with other types of game as well.

Ingredients

Ragout of venison:

• 300 g venison (or wild boar, roe deer or red deer)

• 500 g cannelloni

• 1 onion, finely chopped

• 1 garlic, finely chopped

• 1 handful of fresh basil

• 1 can chopped tomatoes

• Salt, pepper

• Parmesan, finely grated for topping
  

Béchamel sauce:

• 2 tbsp butter

• 2 tablespoons flour

• 400 ml milk

• 50 g cheese

• Salt, pepper and nutmeg
  

Procedure

Preheat the oven to 200°.

To make venison ragu as a filling for the cannelloni, add oil to a frying pan and place it over medium-high heat. Fry the venison until it has a uniform colour. Add the garlic to a large pan and fry for 4-5 minutes. 

Then add the chopped tomatoes, fresh basil, salt and pepper and cook for 2 minutes. Place the meat in the pan with the tomato sauce and cover with a lid. Lower the heat and simmer for 30-40 minutes, or until the game is very tender and soft. Remove the lid and reduce over a high heat until you are left with a rich ragout. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and save for use.

While the ragù is cooking, we need to prepare the béchamel sauce. Melt butter over low heat, add flour in small quantities while whisking. Slowly add the milk and continue whisking to avoid lumps in the sauce. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg and stir in the grated Parmesan cheese. Melt the cheese over a low heat until it is completely incorporated.

Now we can fill our cannelloni. Push the stuffing into your dry cannelloni pasta and place it in a baking dish. Pour bechamel sauce over the stuffed cannelloni tubes and sprinkle parmesan and olive oil on top. Season with salt and pepper and bake in the oven for about 40 minutes.

Good hunting & good cooking.

Photo: October 2020. A week earlier I shot my first fallow deer. Within a week, I subsequently shot my second fallow deer.

Once you've tried this recipe, I'd definitely recommend you try my recipe for Venison Kebabs.