Spinach and Ricotta Cannelloni

From the kitchen of Carly

Vegetarian Italian comfort food: pasta tubes stuffed with spinach and ricotta, blanketed in a tangy tomato-basil sauce, finished with mascarpone cream and bubbly mozzarella. Looks like serious work; mostly assembly. Freezer-friendly. Squeeze the spinach. Twice. Wet spinach makes a watery filling that splits the sauce while baking.

Spinach and Ricotta Cannelloni
Prep
30 min
Cook
35 min
Total
1 hr 5 min
Servings
8
Difficulty
medium

Ingredients

8 servings

  • 3 tbspolive oil
  • 8garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 3 tbspgranulated or caster sugar
  • 2 tbspred wine vinegar
  • 1.2 kg (3 x 400g)canned crushed tomatoes (3 large cans)
  • 1 bunchfresh basil leaves
  • 500 g (2 tubs)mascarpone cheese
  • 3 tbspwhole milk
  • 85 gparmesan, freshly grated (for sauce)
  • 200 g (2 balls)fresh mozzarella, sliced
  • 1 kgfresh spinach
  • 100 gparmesan, freshly grated (for filling)
  • 750 g (3 tubs)ricotta
  • 1 good gratingfreshly grated nutmeg
  • 24cannelloni or manicotti pasta tubes

Instructions

  1. Make the tomato sauce. Heat the olive oil in a wide saucepan over medium heat. Add the chopped garlic and cook 1 minute until fragrant but not brown.

  2. Add the sugar, red wine vinegar, crushed tomatoes, and a generous pinch of salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer and cook 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens to a spoon-coats consistency.

  3. Tear in most of the basil leaves and stir. Spread the sauce across the bottom of 2 large shallow baking dishes (or one really big one). Set aside.

  4. Make the mascarpone topping. Beat the mascarpone with the milk in a bowl until smooth and pourable. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.

  5. Wilt the spinach. Pile the spinach in a large colander in the sink. Pour boiling water over it from a kettle in 2 or 3 batches until completely wilted.

  6. When cool enough to handle, squeeze out as much water as you can with your hands. Roughly chop.

  7. Make the filling. In a large bowl, combine the wilted spinach, 100g parmesan, ricotta, and nutmeg. Season generously with salt and pepper. Mix well.

  8. Heat the oven to 400°F (200°C).

  9. Fill the cannelloni. Spoon the ricotta-spinach filling into a piping bag (or a zip-top bag with the corner cut off). Pipe the filling into the dry pasta tubes from both ends until full.

  10. Lay the filled tubes side by side on the tomato sauce in the baking dishes.

  11. Pour the mascarpone topping evenly over the cannelloni.

  12. Scatter the sliced mozzarella across, then sprinkle the remaining 85g parmesan on top.

  13. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes until golden and bubbling at the edges.

  14. Let stand 5 minutes before serving. Tear the remaining fresh basil leaves over the top.

Substitutions
  • fresh spinach to frozen chopped spinach (500g, thawed and squeezed dry). Faster, no kettle of water step. Thaw completely, then squeeze in a clean kitchen towel until barely damp.
  • mascarpone to creme fraiche or full-fat sour cream. Tangier; lighter texture. The dish stays excellent.
  • cannelloni tubes to lasagne sheets, rolled around the filling. Fresh lasagne sheets work beautifully; soak briefly in hot water, then roll up the filling and place seam-down.

Pairs well with: A simple Caesar or arugula salad, Garlic bread or a warm baguette, A glass of Chianti, Sangiovese, or any medium Italian red

Adapted from TheMealDB.