Cannelloni, Easy Cooking with Kids

As a recovering Chef and loving father I have serious reservations about my four year old's aspirations to cook. On one hand, nothing could be more flattering then to have my son take an interest in what I did for 25 years and follow in my footsteps. As much as I have joked, I love cooking and thoroughly enjoyed my time in some of the best kitchens of the country. I made lots of great friends, learned a lot about different cultures and got to see the world one kitchen at a time. On the other hand, nothing can be scarier than to hand a small child, prone to being a small child, razor sharp implements. My dog has permanently crawled into a kitchen cupboard, completely unable to comprehend the madness unfolding around her. Sometimes I question my own sanity.

Beau has reached a dividing line between being a bebe and becoming a small responsible boy.  He is quickly learning the world no longer circles around him, oohing and ahhing at his every move.  He is learning to cope with the fact that he is a human, like the rest of us, and needs to take his place as one voice in the human choir. For the most part this has been a smooth transition.  Beau is a good boy and really wants to please us. At times our quiet household descends into complete and utter chaos punctuated with moments of inspired anarchy. I read on one parenting site that this is the by-product of a rapidly developing brain. The constant probing of the boundaries of sanity.  Ok, we've all had moments as parents where we wanted to shoot our offspring. Most of the time, albeit through copious quantities of wine or industrial strength pharmaceuticals, we manage to survive another dark night and wake to an incredibly beautiful new day.

Lately Beau has been going through a super helpful, wanting to cook with Dad phase that has me cautious. I've learned to never completely let my guard down. Any tender moment can rapidly degrade into something else. When I cooked professionally I was more like an uncle who visits infrequently than a father. As I spend more and more time with him he wants to spend more time with me.  The other day we were making cheese and caramel popcorn for our weekly Friday movie night and I needed some ingredients. He clutched me tightly with a doleful look begging to come to the store with me.  How could I refuse the pure love shining through the souls of his eyes?

Anyone with French blood cursing through their veins or at the very least has lived with one quickly learns the major emphasis we put on food and the table. Teaching Beau to cook is the way I can express love and educate him on the history of the world and different cultures. We turn sheets of pasta into teachable moments like learning patience, realizing it takes effort and determination to complete something and the pure feeling of joy that accomplishment gives.  Nothing makes me feel prouder than eating a perfectly beautiful cannelloni we both crafted.

Chicken and Fontina Cannellonis

An adaptation of Paul Bertolli's recipes from his masterwork "Cooking by Hand".

for the pasta sheets

• 10 ounces Flour
• 2 farm fresh Eggs
• 1 teaspoon Sea Salt
• 2 ounces Water

for the filling

• 4 tablespoons Butter
• 2 Leeks (chopped and washed well)
• 6 big fat Garlic cloves
• 1 tablespoon Sea Salt
• 1 teaspoon Black Pepper
• 1 teaspoon grated Nutmeg
• 2 tablespoons Flour
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 pound coarsely ground Chicken meat
• 8 ounces Fontina (shredded)
• 2 cups Reggiano Parmesan

for the sauce

• 4 cups homemade Chicken broth
• 1 cup cream

for the pasta sheets

1. Put flour in a kitchen aid mixer fitted with the dough hook. In a separate bowl, mix eggs, salt and water.
2. Add liquid to flour and mix for ten minutes.
3. Put the dough into a ziplock and let sit for one hour to overnight. The flour will soak up the liquid creating the most beautiful pasta dough you've ever made.
4. Follow the instructions of your pasta machine and roll out long sheets that are not too thin.
5. Cut into 4 to 5 inch rectangles.
6. Cook each sheet in rapidly boiling salted water.
7. Remove with a slotted spoon and cool in ice water.
8. Drain sheets on towels and keep covered till you are ready to assemble cannellonis.

for the filling

1. Melt butter in a heavy pan.
2. Add leeks and chopped garlic cloves.
3. Cook till the fragrance of garlic fills your nostrils with a pleasant aromatic scent.
4. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.
5. Sprinkle flour over then whisk in milk.
6. Add chicken meat and cook thoroughly.
7. Let the filling cool completely.
8. Add Fontina and 3/4's of Parmesan.
9. Take a few tablespoons of filling and roll up in pasta sheets.
10. Butter an ovenproof dish and lay finished cannellonis inside.

for the sauce

1. Reduce chicken broth to two cups.
2. Add heavy cream and simmer for twenty minutes.
3. Pour sauce over cannellonis, sprinkle remaining Parmesan over and bake at 400 degree till brown and bubbly, about 15 minutes.
4. Enjoy!