SPINACH & RICOTTA CANNELLONI
A spinach and ricotta stuffed cannelloni tray bake is a comforting oven baked pasta dish made by filling large tubular pasta (cannelloni) with a creamy mixture of ricotta cheese, wilted spinach, often seasoned with garlic, nutmeg and herbs, arranging them in a baking dish, covering with tomato sauce and béchamel or extra cheese, then baking until bubbling and golden. It’s a practical, family friendly meal that delivers gooey, cheesy satisfaction with minimal fuss. The dish draws on Italian culinary traditions, cannelloni and similar filled pastas like manicotti and cannelloni alla fiorentina have roots in Italy, particularly regions that favour ricotta and spinach fillings such as Emilia Romagna and Tuscany. Though the tray bake, casserole style presentation is a more modern, home cooking adaptation popularised across Europe and beyond.
SPINACH & RICOTTA CANNELLONI
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SPINACH & RICOTTA CANNELLONI 〰️
Time: 70 minutes
Serves: 6-8
1 onion, roughly diced
1 carrot, roughly diced
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 tbl dr oregano
70gm tomato paste
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
800gm can crushed tomatoes
1 bunch fresh basil, just leaves, stems removed
1 egg
250gm cannelloni pasta shells
(Optional) béchamel sauce
80gm grana padano/Parmasen reggiano
Salt, to taste
Olive oil
Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
Start by making the tomato sauce. In pot on medium heat add in a glug of olive oil, onion and carrot with a pinch of salt and allow to sweat for 5 minutes. Add in oregano and cook for a minute, add in tomato paste and cook out for a minute, then add apple cider vinegar and garlic and reduce until almost all the vinegar is gone. Add crushed tomatoes (plus a dash of water washing out the can as you do so) and season with salt. Bring to simmer and allow to bubble gently for 20 minutes. Once simmered, add in half of the basil leaves, torn, and mixed through.
To stuff cannelloni, add 1 egg to the ricotta filling mix and mix through with your hands. Pop filling into a piping bag and pipe in to the pasta shells one by one.
To put together, add a layer of tomato sauce of the bottom of the tray with a solid drizzle fo béchamel. Place all the cannelloni down each side until base is covered with a little bit of wiggle room. Give them a little wiggle around to make sure the sauce coast the sides. Top with the remaining tomato sauce and and then finish with another solid drizzle of béchamel.
Cover tray with foil and bake for 30 minutes, before removing foil adding finely grated grana padano on top and cooking for another 10 minutes with no cover, before cranking the oven onto grill to get a final nice char.
Finish with torn basil leaves and enjoy.