1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees. If you are using homemade pasta, prepare the recipe for our Homemade Pasta for Cannelloni and Lasagna and set aside.

2.  In a large sauté pan over medium high heat, add the olive oil, 1/3 cup water, the minced garlic, bay leaves, diced onion, carrots, celery and a pinch of salt. Sauté and sweat the mixture for 6 - 8 minutes until the vegetables begin to soften and the celery and onion begin to turn translucent.

3.  Add the ground sirloin to the pan, 1/4 of the grated Parmigiano, the nutmeg and the minced parsley. Using the back of a fork break down the ground beef into small pieces while, at the same time, combining it with the rest of the ingredients in the pan. Continue breaking down and mixing the beef until you have small crumbly bits of loose beef.

4.  Continue to sauté this mixture until the beef begins to brown, about 12 - 15 minutes.

5.  Add the diced tomatoes and red wine to the pan and stir. Cover the pan, lower the heat to medium and simmer the mixture for 10 - 15 minutes or until the tomatoes begin to break down.

6.  When the tomatoes begin to break down, add the tomato sauce to the pan as well as 1 1/4 cups of water and your preferred optional ingredients: Parmigiano rinds, basil or oregano and the chili pepper flakes. Stir the ingredients well to combine. Bring the mixture to a quick simmer and then cover the pan and simmer for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally. If the sauce becomes too dry, add a small amount of water to the pan while cooking to thin the sauce.

7.  After 25 minutes, uncover the pan and taste the sauce. Add salt and pepper to your taste. Remove the pan from the heat and discard the bay leaves from the sauce.

8.  Using a large spoon or ladle, strain out 6 - 8 (about 1 1/2 - 2 cups total) generous spoonfuls of the tomato sauce into a separate bowl. Try to spoon out just tomato sauce, leaving the meat and vegetables in the pan. Then set the bowl of sauce and the pan with the meat mixture aside and allow them to cool enough so that they can be handled with your hands.

9.  While the sauces cool, if you are using store bought pasta, prepare the pasta for the cannelloni according to the manufacturer's instructions.

10.  When you are ready to assemble and bake the cannelloni, line an oven safe baking dish with parchment paper or spray the dish with nonstick cooking spray to prevent the cannelloni from sticking.

11.  Add 2 spoonfuls of the strained tomato only sauce into the bottom of the baking dish and spread it around so that it evenly coats the bottom of the dish.

12.  Place one sheet of the pasta for the cannelloni onto a plate, and spoon 1 very generous spoonful of the meat mixture on to the short end side of the pasta. Roll the pasta up into a tube and place the filled roll into the baking dish.

13.  Continue step 12 until you have used all of the pasta. If you make 2 layers of cannelloni in the same baking dish, prior to proceeding to the second layer, spread a generous amount of the strained tomato sauce evenly over the first layer of cannelloni and top it with a sprinkle of Parmigiano.

14.  When all of the cannelloni are made, pour the remaining strained tomato sauce evenly over the top of the cannelloni and top with the rest of the grated Parmigiano. Cover the baking dish with foil and close it well.

15.  Place the baking dish in the oven on the center rack and bake for 30 - 40 minutes or until the Parmigiano has melted and the tomato sauce is thickened and bubbly.

16.  After baking for at least 30 minutes, uncover the dish and bake for another 5 - 10 minutes to brown the Parmigiano lightly.

17.  Remove the dish from the oven and allow it to cool for 10 - 15 minutes prior to serving. Serve with extra Parmigiano.

Notes

The dough for the pasta and the sauce can be made 1 - 2 days ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator. When you are ready to assemble the cannelloni, roll out and cut the dough according to the recipe (Homemade pasta for Cannelloni and Lasagna, steps 7 - 10) and then proceed to step 10 of this recipe.