Spinach and Ricotta Cannelloni

Cannelloni pasta stuffed with spinach and ricotta.

Prep Time15

Cook Time30

Resting time15

Total Time1

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: spinach and ricotta cannelloni

Servings:

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F.
Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a pan and add minced garlic, tomato passata, chopped or sliced basil leaves and dried oregano with a pinch of salt and sugar, bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
In a medium bowl combine the ricotta cheese, chopped spinach, Parmesan cheese and Cheddar cheese, salt and pepper to taste, then mix in 1 egg.
Cover the bottom of a square 9X9 inch/23cm x 23cm casserole dish with the tomato basil sauce about ¼ inch/½ cm deep.
Transfer the ricotta mixture to a large piping bag or a sandwich bag, then snip the tip with scissors. Fill each cannelloni tube with the cheese mixture and arrange the filled cannelloni on top of the sauce in the pan in a single layer.
Cover with the remaining sauce and top with torn up fresh mozzarella, add a few basil leaves on top. Cover and bake for 25 minutes, uncover and cook for 10 minutes longer until the cheese is bubbly. Let it rest for 15 minutes before serving.

I usually use fresh spinach but frozen is great as well. If you do use frozen spinach, drain excess liquid before adding it to the ricotta.
Although freeze dried Parmesan cheese may seem to be an obvious shortcut, please give it a miss! It's far too dry, doesn't melt correctly and carries very little flavour. Fresh Parmesan is far tastier so you can get away with using far less.
When taken from the oven, these cannelloni are going to be HOT! Letting it rest for 15 minutes before serving is going to help limit the risk of burned mouths.