This beef cannelloni recipe with aubergine is a frugal and delicious dish for the whole family.

I promise I will not bang on about my love for aubergines and how they are such an under estimated vegetable ! But they are the star of this recipe and kind of pull the whole dish together. This was a total new make it up as I go along recipe, and it was ruddy delicious ! I previously picked up some steak mince reduced to 99p in Waitrose, and paired it with some reduced aubergines, so this came in at around 75p a portion, which you can agree is bargaintastic! I love a good frugal meal.

I served it with some garlic yogurt and grated cucumber with a sprinkle of rice wine vinegar, but it would equally go nicely with some salad or even chips !

You will need….

250g steak mince ( or low fat mince)

2 Aubergines

3 cloves of crushed garlic ( roasted garlic is even better )

Handful of finely diced flavoursome small tomatoes

1 onion finely diced

1 tbsp Paprika

1 tbsp Cumin

Salt & Pepper

1/4 cup of finely chopped dill

Roux

100g butter

plain flour

milk

2 tsp Nutmeg

Pop the oven on to a medium heat and while it is warming, cut the top and bottom off the aubergine. Slice the aubergine into very thin strips and place on a lined baking tin. Brush some olive oil over the aubergine, season and put in the oven until they are slightly charred and flexible. Leave them to cool.

In a pan, fry your onions and garlic and when translucent add your mince. Fry this off until it is brown and then add the remaining ingredients. Again mix well and leave to cool.

When the everything is cool, lay the aubergine strips out and put a generous amount of mince in the end. Roll the aubergine up, try not to squeeze too hard, as you want to try and keep the filling inside. Repeat with all the aubergine and place every roll into a baking dish. If you have any remaining mince, push this down the sides and around the rolls.

The roux is super simple to put together, just melt the butter and slowly add some flour while stirring, your looking for a thick paste consistency. Slowly add the milk while stirring and bring it to a slow bubble point. Every time the sauce thickens up add a little more milk until you have your desired amount. Stir in the nutmeg and seasoning then pour over the aubergine.

Bake until the top of the sauce is nicely browned and serve with a decent salad or with the flavoured cucumber. This is a great meal to cook a day ahead and will taste even better !

 Enjoy X

If you like a decent Roux, try this fish pie with fried leeks !