Creamy Cheesy Mushroom Cannelloni

At this time of year, I'm always up for carbs and creaminess - be it chicken pie, lasagne, fish pie, the lot! - and this dish gives you all of that comfort in spades as well as a couple of your five a day (or more if you serve it with a salad or some veg on the side...).

I saw Jamie Oliver make this dish on the TV recently and I had to give it a go. The mushrooms bring a proper meatiness that even the most avid carnivore will find irresistible and the sauce is pure luxury with it's silky texture and cheesy flavour. You can make this in advance by either preparing up to the point of baking and just giving it a little longer in the oven or fully cook it and just re-heat it for around 30 minutes or until heated through.

Creamy Cheesy Mushroom Cannelloni
Serves 6

oil

2 small onions

2 cloves garlic

2 leeks

750g chestnut mushrooms

75g plain flour

1 litre semi-skimmed milk

120g Cheddar cheese

250g dried cannelloni tubes

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 180C.

Peel the onions and garlic then pulse in a food processor until very fine. Tip into a large casserole pan on a medium heat with 1 tbsp oil and a good pinch of salt. Trim, wash, blitz and add the leeks. Saving 2 mushrooms for later, blitz the rest (you may need to do this in batches) then stir into the pan. Cook everything for 15 minutes, stirring regularly, then season really well with salt and pepper and set aside.

Meanwhile, for the sauce, pour 3 tbsp  oil into a separate pan on a medium heat. Whisk in the flour for 2 minutes, then gradually add the milk, continuing to whisk as you go. Simmer for 5 minutes, or until thickened, then take off the heat and stir in the cheese. Season well with salt and pepper.

Pour a third of the sauce into a 25cm x 30cm roasting tray. As soon as the filling is cool enough to work with, push both ends of each pasta tube into it to fill, lining them up in the tray as you go. Pour over the rest of the sauce, then finely slice the reserved mushrooms and use them to decorate the top. Drizzle with 1 tbsp of oil and bake in the preheated over for 45 minutes or until golden and cooked through.