This homemade mushroom cannelloni recipe is inspired by the late Antonio Carluccio’s Cannelloni Ripieni di Funghi con Salsa di Taleggio e Tartufo—a mouthful in every sense. His 2014 cookbook PASTA introduced me to this deceptively simple but utterly luxurious mushroom cannelloni with truffle, built on a simple wild mushroom filling, shaved truffle, and a creamy Taleggio cheese sauce.
I’ve made a few respectful changes to the filling by adding mascarpone, fresh thyme, truffle salsa, and Italian parsley. I’ve also swapped in the readily available Swiss brown mushrooms for wild mushrooms and roasted them to give them a meaty bite.
But the true genius of Carluccio’s original truffled mushroom cannelloni is his Taleggio cheese sauce or Salsa di Taleggio. This is no heavy bechamel but a soft, creamy cheese sauce enriched with egg yolks so that it almost souffles around the cannelloni as they bake. Taleggio can be hard to source and is a bit pricey—especially if you’re already reaching for some truffle products. So, I’ve recreated his iconic taleggio truffle sauce using triple cream brie.
This is a special occasion vegetarian pasta bake that feels worthy of a formal dinner party or an elegant buffet table. Of course, you can use store-bought pasta sheets—but if you want that silky texture and delicate bite, my easy homemade egg pasta dough recipe makes short work of it. You can have the dough resting on the bench while you prep the mushroom filling.
Let me step it out for you.
Truffled mushroom cannelloni ingredients
Truffle swaps and cost-saving upgrades
While this is a truffled mushroom cannelloni, it doesn’t have to be a truffle extravaganza. If the upgrades aren’t in your budget, a few simple swap-outs make this a very good—less pricey—homemade mushroom cannelloni.
Truffle salsa is an Italian pantry staple—think of it as a rich paste of finely chopped mushrooms blended with truffle, olive oil, and sometimes anchovy or garlic. It’s earthy, savoury, and used in small amounts to bring depth rather than dominate. You’ll find it in good delis or speciality food stores. It plays a background role in the filling, so you can skip it—but if you do, I suggest upping the dried porcini mushrooms to 50g to bring more of that woodland edge to the mix.
Truffle salt is exactly what it sounds like: sea salt blended with finely ground black or white truffle. It’s aromatic, earthy, and used more as a finishing salt than an everyday seasoning. A little goes a long way. If you don’t have it, use a good flaky sea salt and freshly ground white pepper instead. You’ll miss the truffle aroma, but the dish will still hold together beautifully.
You can also swap the truffle pecorino or truffle sheep’s milk cheese for a good aged Parmigiano Reggiano. Not the pre-grated stuff, please. Head to the supermarket deli and grab a wedge—there are plenty of affordable options that’ll do the job.
I do recommend keeping the dried porcini mushrooms in the mix—this is a creamy mushroom cannelloni, and they bring the depth and backbone that keeps it feeling properly Italian.
Pasta notes and what not to do
Now, I’d love to convince you that my easy homemade egg pasta dough fits neatly into the prep window here. That might be pushing it. But it’s worth the effort—it gives you the thinnest, most delicate pasta for rolling around the filling. If you’re using store-bought pasta sheets, just look for the thinnest ones available. Some sheets made for lasagna bake up thick and clumsy.
And please don’t try forcing the filling into dried cannelloni tubes. You’d need to turn it into a rough paste just to make it pipeable, and you’d lose the rustic bite that makes the filling what it is. That’s a hard no from me.
Homemade mushroom cannelloni filling
Prepping the mushrooms
Preheat the oven to 150°C fan forced / 170°C conventional.
Soak the dried porcini mushrooms in a bowl of warm water. Lift them out and gently squeeze them—then discard the first soak water and replace it. Let them sit again until fully hydrated. Once soft, press out as much water as you can without crushing them. I press them into the bottom of a sieve set over the bowl. Discard the soaking liquid and set the mushrooms aside.
Trim the bottoms from the Swiss brown mushrooms and halve or quarter them depending on size. Place them on a baking paper-lined tray, toss with a little extra virgin olive oil, and spread them out cut-side down. Season with truffle salt and white pepper, then roast for 20–25 minutes, or until the liquid has evaporated and the mushrooms are golden on the underside. Let them cool, then cut into 5–7mm slices. You don’t want the slices for this homemade mushroom cannelloni to be so thin they disintegrate while baking.
Remove and discard the stems from the shiitake mushrooms. Halve any large ones, then cut the rest into 5–7mm slices.
Gently cooking the green chili and aromatics
I gently sauté the chopped green chillies, garlic, and fresh thyme leaves in 4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. This softens the punch of the garlic and chilli, and releases the oils of the thyme. Once cooled, I add the chopped Italian parsley to keep it fresh and bright before baking, then season with a little salt and white pepper—or go for truffle salt if you’re doubling down on the truffle flavour.
This infused oil mixture acts as a flavour bomb that folds through the rest of the filling. This makes sure every bite of the truffled mushroom cannelloni tastes as it should. Earthy, herbaceous, and well seasoned from the inside out.
And that little mini chopping device I used for the de-seeded green chillies? It’s one of my best kitchen hacks for small, fiddly jobs—too little for the food processor, too annoying for a knife. It’s the Tupperware Chop ‘N Prep Chef and still available online on Amazon even thought the company has been wound up – farewell Tupperware. Easy to clean and surprisingly effective.
Completing the cannelloni filling
In a large bowl, add the chopped roasted Swiss brown and shitake mushrooms, the drained porcini mushrooms, 100g truffle salsa, 250g mascarpone, the sautéed herb, chilli and garlic mix, and 50g of finely grated truffle pecorino or sheep’s milk cheese. Mix well to ensure an even distribution of all the ingredients.
Taste, then season with truffle salt or sea salt and white pepper to your preference. Refrigerate the filling until you’re ready to assemble.
The filling is the heart of these mushroom cannelloni with truffle, but don’t stop there—it would work just as beautifully in any special occasion vegetarian pasta. Try layering it into a creamy mushroom lasagna or stirring it through some cooked short pasta—think fusilli or penne—and topping with extra truffle pecorino and baking until heated through and golden.
Preparing pasta sheets
Full details on how to produce super thin, silky sheets of fresh egg pasta can be found in my easy homemade egg pasta dough. You can push the dough to the absolute limit of thinness using a hand roller or the stand mixer roller attachment. Probably not something you’ll achieve by hand alone. If you’re going with store-bought pasta sheets, look for the thinnest ones available. As I’ve said—dried cannelloni tubes do not work with this recipe.
I use a 36cm x 26cm x 7cm rectangular stoneware baking pan for my truffled mushroom cannelloni recipe, which holds two rows of six cannelloni. Conveniently, the width of the sheets that come out of my KitchenAid pasta roller is 14cm. After rolling, I just use a pastry wheel to cut them into 14cm x 14cm squares. The recipe calls for 12 cannelloni rolls but cut extra squares to allow for some to tear while rolling.
Whether you’re using homemade or store-bought, the sheets need to be boiled and rinsed under cold water. The exact cooking time depends on the thickness of the pasta, but the goal is to make them just pliable enough to roll. When using my pasta dough recipe, I boil the sheets for about one minute.
I cook a couple of sheets at a time to keep it manageable and spray them lightly with a flavourless oil to stop them sticking. I also layer them between sheets of baking paper, which helps keep them from drying out while they wait to be rolled. Add an extra layer of oiled baking paper over the top sheet if they’ll be sitting for a while.
Triple cream brie cheese sauce
The triple cream brie cheese sauce is really the star of this mushroom cannelloni with truffle, and you want all of that cheese in the sauce. I’ve found it endlessly frustrating trying to peel brie—or any soft rind cheese. Even if you start with a cold round, it’s nearly impossible not to lose a good chunk of cheese to the rind.
But when the recipe is a sauce? That rind works in your favour.
Start by chopping 600g triple cream brie cheese into even chunks—do not attempt to remove the rind. Heat 700ml full cream milk in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir until the milk reaches 85°C, or hot to the touch if you dip in a clean little finger. No boiling.
Add the brie and stir gently as it melts. The cheese will melt clean off the rind—bit of cooking magic, really. Keep checking and stirring until it’s fully melted.
Once melted, pour the mixture through a sieve into a 2–3L jug or bowl. Press gently to extract all the cheesy milk and scrape the underside of the sieve to get every bit of that sauce-worthy goodness.
Gently temper the egg yolks
Separate 7 large eggs, placing the yolks in a 2–3L jug or mixing bowl. Whisk until well combined.
To temper the yolks, slowly pour a small amount of the hot cheese sauce onto the egg yolks while whisking constantly. This warms the yolks gradually, preventing them from scrambling. Add a little more each time, still whisking, until all the cheesy milk is incorporated and the sauce is smooth.
The triple cream brie cheese sauce is now ready—and it’s best used before it has a chance to cool and thicken. Time to start rolling and assembling the cannelloni
Assembling the truffled mushroom cannelloni
Cannelloni versus sauce balancing act
Make sure the oven is preheated to 150°C fan forced / 170°C conventional. I use the middle rack for this baked pasta recipe.
When assembling this homemade mushroom cannelloni recipe, the goal is to roll 12 cannelloni that fit fairly snugly into your baking dish—but not so tight that the brie cheese sauce can’t settle between the rolls. I use a 36cm x 26cm x 7cm rectangular stoneware baking pan, which I’d describe as a large lasagna or roasting pan. You could also use two smaller square pans, but the same rule applies: each set of six cannelloni needs a close but not too close fit. If the sauce spreads too much, the top halves of the cannelloni won’t absorb any sauce and you may end up with a fairly dry dish of cannelloni.
Oil your baking dish with a flavourless oil and pour in about 1.5cm of the brie cheese sauce.
To roll, I use a #12 ice cream scoop, which gives about 75g of filling per roll (roughly a heaped ¼ cup). Roll the cannelloni loosely—if they’re packed too tightly, the filling can expand and cause the pasta to burst. Aim for a 2cm overlap. If the overlap ends up wider, trim it back.
Once the pan is filled with cannelloni rolls, gently pour the remaining sauce over the top, nudging the rolls to help the sauce settle in around them. You want the truffled mushroom cannelloni just peeking out of the sauce. Too much sauce and they’ll disappear—and be tricky to portion. Too little, and the tops will bake dry. The goal? A few crisp pasta edges, but not mouthfuls of leathery pasta sheets. A fine balancing act, as promised.
Your vegetarian truffle pasta bake is ready for the oven
Sprinkle 75g of finely grated truffle pecorino or sheep’s milk cheese across the top of the assembled creamy mushroom cannelloni.
Cover with foil. If the foil might touch the cannelloni, spray it with flavourless oil first. Bake at the low initial temperature (150°C fan forced / 170°C conventional) to keep the brie cheese sauce smooth and custardy—too hot and you’ll risk scrambling it.
Check after 20 minutes. I use an instant-read thermometer and look for the internal temp of the cannelloni to reach around 95°C. Alternatively, insert a knife into the centre of the dish—it should come out very hot to the touch.
Remove the foil, increase the oven temperature to 180°C fan forced / 200°C conventional, and continue baking until golden brown on top. If the edges of your vegetarian truffle pasta bake are browning too quickly, cover them loosely with foil strips.
Note: That initial 20-minute bake time is based on super-thin homemade egg pasta sheets. If you’re using thicker store-bought pasta, reduce the starting oven temp to 140°C fan forced / 160°C conventional and extend the bake to 30 minutes before checking.
Finishing touches after baking
Once baked, the truffled mushroom cannelloni needs to rest for 30 minutes. That time gives the sauce a chance to settle, the filling to firm up, and the dish to become sliceable—not something collapsing under its own heat. It also means your garnishes will sit where they’re meant to, not melt into the surface.
After resting, I top it with a scattering of toasted pine nuts, a generous spoon of pickled red onions, and a few sprigs of micro herbs. The pine nuts bring richness and crunch, the onions add sharpness to cut through the creamy brie sauce, and the micro herbs? They’re just for show—but they do the job.
It’s not trying to be rustic. It knows exactly what it is: a showstopping truffled mushroom cannelloni, dressed for the occasion.
Serving up that showstopping bite
This truffled mushroom cannelloni recipe is firmly anchored in Antonio Carluccio’s original inspiration, but I’ve taken a few thoughtful steps to make it more approachable—and, dare I say, a little more luxurious. I’ve swapped wild mushrooms for Swiss browns and shiitake, added mascarpone for creaminess, and introduced truffle salsa for depth. The triple cream brie cheese sauce? That’s my answer to Taleggio—still indulgent, but easier to source.
Each change has a reason. Every upgrade walks the line between practicality and extravagance. The result is a special occasion vegetarian pasta bake that feels both rooted in tradition and ready for a dinner party.
I like to serve it with a green bean salad tossed in a sharp vinaigrette—something with enough acid to cut through the richness of the brie sauce. Broccolini with lemon zest and olive oil works too, or even a bitter radicchio salad if you want more contrast. Either way, the idea is the same: a fresh, punchy side that balances the indulgence of the main event.
It’s still a vegetarian truffle pasta bake—but dressed, portioned, and plated like it’s ready to impress.
Truffled Mushroom Cannelloni
Equipment
- Digital scales
- Tupperware Chop 'N Prep Chef or other mini chopper (optional)
- Pastry wheel (for cutting pasta sheets)
- #12 ice cream scoop (optional)
- Large rectangular baking dish (approx. 36cm x 26cm x 7cm)
- 2 x 2–3 litre mixing jugs or bowls
- Instant read thermometer (optional but helpful)
Ingredients
- Fresh egg pasta sheets
- 1 x Easy homemade egg pasta dough recipe (alternatively, 12 x 14cm x14cm fresh egg pasta sheets)
- Truffle mushroom filling
- 400 g Swiss brown mushrooms
- 300 g shitake mushrooms
- 40 g dried porcini mushrooms
- 4 large garlic cloves
- 2 large long green chillies
- 2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves (small bunch of thyme)
- 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 cup chopped Italian flat leaf parsley (medium bunch)
- 250 g mascarpone
- 100 g truffle salsa (optional)
- 125 g truffle pecorino (keep aside 75g for top of cannelloni) (or sheep’s milk cheese)
- Truffle salt (or sea salt)
- Ground white pepper
- Brie cheese sauce
- 700 ml full cream milk
- 600 g triple cream brie cheese
- 7 egg yolks
- Truffle salt or sea salt
- Ground white pepper
- To serve:
- Pickled red onions
- Pine nuts
- Micro herbs
Instructions
Assemble ingredients and equipment:
- Gather all ingredients and the necessary equipment before you begin.
Prepare and roast the mushrooms:
- Preheat the oven at 180°C fan forced / 200°C conventional.
- Soak the porcini mushrooms in warm water. Lift them out of the water to leave any grit behind, gently squeeze them, discard the first soak water and replace it, and soak again until fully rehydrated and thoroughly squeeze out the soaking water.
- Finely chop the porcini mushrooms.
- Trim and halve or quarter the Swiss brown mushrooms. Place them on a baking paper-lined tray, toss with a little extra virgin olive oil, and spread them out cut-side down.
- Season with truffle salt and white pepper then roast them tossed with olive oil, salt, and white pepper.
- Roast for 20–25 minutes or until the liquid has evaporated and the mushrooms are golden on the underside.
- Cool, then slice to about 5–7mm thick.
- Remove and discard the stems from the shiitake mushrooms. Halve any large ones, then cut the rest into 5–7mm slices.
Sauté aromatics and mix herbs:
- Slice the 2 green chillies in half lengthwise, remove the seeds and pith, and finely chop.
- Remove the thyme leaves from the stems (2 tablespoons of leaves) roughly chop.
- Add 4 tablespoons of olive oil to a medium sized frying pan and add 2 crushed garlic cloves, chilli, and thyme leaves.
- Roughly chop parsley (1 cup).
- Gently sauté until they chilli and garlic are softened and thyme leaves fragrant.
- Cool slightly, then stir in the chopped parsley.
- Season with truffle salt or white pepper.
Make the mushroom filling:
- In a large bowl, combine the sliced mushrooms, rehydrated porcini, 250g mascarpone, truffle salsa, sautéed aromatics, and 50g finely grated truffle pecorino.
- Mix until evenly combined.
- Taste and season with truffle salt and white pepper.
- Refrigerate until ready to assemble.
Prepare pasta sheets:
- If using, roll out the homemade egg pasta dough until 2-3mm thick.
- With homemade or store bought fresh pasta, cut into 14cm x 14cm squares. You need 12 squares but cut more if able in case some tear.
- Boil the pasta sheets briefly until just pliable—about 1 minute for homemade and longer for the thicker store bought pasta.
- Rinse the sheets under cold water, lightly oil them to prevent sticking, and layer between sheets of baking paper.
Make the brie cheese sauce:
- Roughly chop 600g triple cream brie cheese (leave rind on), set aside.
- Separate 7 eggs, setting aside the yolks and a large bowl.
- Gently heat 700ml milk in a medium saucepan until it reaches 85°C or is hot to the touch (do not boil).
- Add the chopped brie cheese (rind on) and stir until the cheese is fully melted, remove from heat.
- Strain the mixture through a fine sieve into a large jug or bowl, pressing gently to extract all the cheesy milk, set aside.
Temper the egg yolks:
- Whisk the egg yolks.
- Slowly add the hot cheese sauce in small amounts, whisking constantly to prevent curdling. Continue adding gradually until fully incorporated.
- Set aside until ready to assemble.
Assemble the cannelloni:
- Preheat the oven to 150°C fan forced / 170°C conventional.
- Lightly oil the baking dish and pour about 1.5cm of the brie cheese sauce into the base of the pan.
- Place approximately 75g of mushroom filling onto each pasta square and roll loosely, allowing for a 2cm overlap. Trim any excess overlap.
- Arrange the12 rolls in two rows into the baking dish. They should be quite snug but with some room for the sauce.
Add sauce and bake:
- Carefully pour the remaining sauce over the cannelloni, gently shifting the rolls so the sauce seeps between them.
- Sprinkle the top with the remaining 75g of grated truffle pecorino.
- Cover the dish with oiled foil and bake for 20 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 95°C.
- Remove the foil, increase the oven temperature to 180°C fan forced / 200°C conventional, and bake until golden.
- Shield the edges with foil if they begin to brown too quickly.
Rest and garnish:
- Let the baked cannelloni rest for 30 minutes before garnishing.
- Top with toasted pine nuts, pickled red onions, and micro herbs just before serving.
Just before you cook with abandon…
- Cheese substitutions: If you can’t find truffle pecorino or truffled sheep’s milk cheese, use 125g of aged Parmigiano Reggiano. Skip the pre-grated stuff—go for a decent wedge from the deli. It melts better and tastes like actual cheese.
- Truffle salsa substitution: Truffle salsa is optional and used in small amounts to add depth. If leaving it out, increase the dried porcini mushrooms from 40g to 50g to bring back some of that earthy base note.
- Truffle salt swap: Truffle salt can be replaced with sea salt. You’ll lose a bit of aromatic finish, but the dish will still stand up beautifully.
