Thursday 20 February 2014

Shortcut Spinach and Ricotta Cannelloni

There are a lot of "cheat" versions of cannelloni out there, often involving bottled pasta sauce. There are limits to my shortcuts, and I firmly believe pasta sauce is one of those things that are worth the little bit of extra effort to make yourself. Having said that, this is a shortcut recipe - but there is no bottled sauce in sight! This is a shortcut recipe that doesn't sacrifice flavour for speed - faster prep, less washing up, faster cooking, maximum flavour.



Serves 4

INGREDIENTS
700g tomato passata - pureed tomatoes (note 1)
1/2 cup water
1 diced brown onion
2 cloves crushed garlic
Handful of basil leaves
1 tsp salt
Good grind of black pepper
700g passata (pureed tomato)
375g (1 packet) fresh lasagne sheets
250g frozen spinach, defrosted and water squeezed out
500g - 600g ricotta (low fat if desired….but won't be the same!)
1 egg
1 crushed clove of garlic
1/2 nutmeg grated or 1/4 tsp nutmeg powder
1/4 cup grated parmesan (note 2)
1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper
Handful of grated cheese

DIRECTIONS
1. Mix the passata, water, onion, garlic, basil, salt and pepper in a baking dish suitable to cook the cannelloni in and pop it into a 180 degrees preheated oven for about 10 minutes (while you make the filling).
2. In a bowl, use your hands to mix the ricotta, spinach, egg, 1 clove garlic, nutmeg, parmesan and salt and pepper.
3. Cut the lasagne sheets in half and spoon filling onto each sheet then roll to enclose.
4. Take the pasta sauce out of the oven and place the cannelloni into the sauce.
5. Spoon the sauce over the cannelloni, then cover with foil and place in the oven for 15 minutes
6. After 15 minutes, take out of the oven, remove the foil and scatter the grated cheese over the cannelloni.
7. Put back into the oven for 10 minutes or so until bubbly and golden.

Tip
1. You can used tinned tomatoes but it won't quite be the same unless you blend it to make a puree.
2. Cut parmesan into chunks and whizz in food processor or blender, then store in a ziplock bag in a freezer.

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