OKAY TO FREEZE CANNELLONI? - moved from Site Talk board

[JENNYBEEAY]

We want to make and freeze cannelloni prior to our Christmas dinner. Has anyone out there done this and did it come out well after being frozen? Thanks for the input...

[Terrie H.]

Every winter I make cannelloni crepes and fill with mushrooms on bechamel, top with bechamel with Parmesan and freeze, uncooked, in individual serving portions. This works so well and you willl be fine with your plan.

[JENNYBEEAY]

Terri H. that sounds so delicious! Thanks for the reassurance...

[BananaBirkLarsen]

I often freeze the pasta version. I make the pasta, stuff it, and freeze the individual cannelloni on a cookie sheet. Then I put them all into a freezer bag and assemble the actual dish later. This might be a bit more difficult with the crepes, but I imagine it can be done. Because they aren't sitting in the sauce as they freeze, there is less risk of sogginess.

[JENNYBEEAY]

I'll keep that in mind. Thanks for adding that in to the mix.

[HBGigi]

Are you making your cannelloni with crepes or pasta? When I make cannelloni, I start with home made savory crepes, build my dish by placing a thin layer of red sauce in the bottom of the dish, filling the crepes and placing them on top of the sauce. The next layer is a bechemel sauce followed by a small amount of red sauce. Last comes the Mozzarella and then the Parmesan. I don't have any trouble freezing this. I would imagine if you make your cannelloni with pasta, you'd have even less concerns than I have with the crepes. If I don't cool my dish down, freeze quickly and bake without thawing, my crepes get a little soggy.

[JENNYBEEAY]

HBGigi...that is all great to know. We are planning to make the crepes version so I will definitely make sure that I let the dish cool before freezing. Just a small question for you...what do you mean by freeze quickly??