Spinach and ricotta cannelloni
A comforting baked pasta dish, spinach and ricotta cannelloni is surprisingly easy to put together and can be prepared in advance to make supper a cinch.
Ingredients
- 125g/4Β½oz dried cannelloni tubes
- 200g/7oz frozen spinach, defrosted
- 250g/9oz ricotta
- 20²΅/ΒΎ΄Η³ϊ Parmesan (or a vegetarian hard cheese alternative), grated
- Β½ lemon, zest only
- ΒΌ tsp freshly ground nutmeg
- 400g tin chopped tomatoes
- 1 tsp caster sugar
- Β½ tsp dried oregano
- 150²΅/5Β½΄Η³ϊ mozzarella ball
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6. Choose a shallow baking dish into which the cannelloni will fit snugly.
Squeeze as much excess water as possible from the spinach and roughly chop. Place in a bowl with the ricotta, Parmesan, lemon zest, nutmeg and Β½ teaspoon of sea salt; mix well.
Transfer the ricotta mixture to a disposable piping bag and cut off the end to make a hole about 1.5β2cm/β βΒΎin across. Fill the cannelloni tubes generously, and transfer them to the baking dish.
Mix the chopped tomatoes with Β½ teaspoon of sea salt, the sugar, dried oregano and a generous amount of black pepper. Pour over the pasta tubes, adding a little water, if needed, to ensure they are completely covered with the tomato mixture.
Tear the mozzarella over the tomato mixture and grind over a little more black pepper. Bake for 20β30 minutes, until the pasta is cooked through, the sauce is bubbling and the cheese has browned. Leave to stand for 4β5 minutes before serving.
Recipe Tips
To get ahead, you can fill the cannelloni, pour over the tomato mixture and top with the mozzarella up to a day in advance, ready to put in the oven.
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