Spinach And Ricotta Cannelloni

Spinach and ricotta cannelloni, a classic, foolproof recipe and a family favourite. Cannelloni pasta tubes filled with a creamy spinach and ricotta filling, baked in a simple and good tomato sauce and topped with melting mozzarella cheese.

Like other classic Italian recipes such as lasagne and beef ragu spinach and ricotta cannelloni is one of those recipes we will always go back to. It's classic, comforting and surprisingly simple to make!

Since living in Italy, we have seen so many cannelloni recipes. A more rustic and traditional way of making them is with fresh lasagna sheets (homemade). Dollop some of your filling, be it spinach and ricotta or ragu and roll it up to create the cannelloni.

The other option is to use pre-made cannelloni pasta tubes. We love using these because they are so easy to fill and ensure each tube is evenly filled, that way everyone gets an even portion. You should be able to buy cannelloni pasta tubes in most stores/supermarkets, they're pretty common and they save so much time.

Visual walk-through of the recipe

Finely chop a shallot and garlic and saute in a pan with a little olive oil for 1-2 minutes. Add the tomato passata (pureed tomatoes) with some torn basil leaves, salt and pepper and simmer for around 5 minutes, set aside (photos 1 & 2).

Tip: Making a simple tomato sauce with shallot, garlic and basil will give this spinach and ricotta cannelloni an extra punch of flavour and it's so worth the extra 5 minute effort.

Add some washed raw, fresh spinach to a large pan and wilt on a medium heat. Tip: Add a splash of water (around 1 tbsp) to stop the spinach from burning and to help wilt it all. Leave to cool and then squeeze out as much water as possible (photos 3 and 4).

To make the spinach and ricotta filling: add the ricotta, parmesan, chopped spinach, egg, nutmeg and salt and pepper to a large mixing bowl and mix everything together until creamy and thoroughly combined (photos 5 and 6).

To assemble the spinach and ricotta cannelloni: add a few spoonfuls of tomato sauce to the bottom of a large baking dish. Transfer the spinach and ricotta filling to a piping bag or a disposable freezer bag with the corner cut off and pipe the filling into the cannelloni pasta tubes. Add each filled cannelloni tube in an even layer in the baking dish (photos 7-9).

Top the cannelloni with the remaining tomato sauce then top with torn mozzarella and grated parmesan. Cover with tin foil and bake for 30 minutes then uncovered for 10 minutes or until the cheese is golden and bubbling.

Recipe Tips

• Use a piping bag – although it's not necessary, using a piping bag to pipe the spinach and ricotta filling into the cannelloni tubes makes things so much easier.
• No cannelloni tubes? If you don't have cannelloni tubes you can blanch store-bough or homemade fresh lasagna sheets. blanch them in boiling salted water for about 30-40 seconds before filling and rolling.

Cannelloni fillings and variations

• Pesto provolone cannelloni (vegetarian)
• Italian beef ragu (replace the tomato sauce with bechamel sauce)
• Lentil ragu (vegetarian): replace the tomato sauce with bechamel as above.
• Tuscan sausage ragu
• Ricotta mixed with grated smoked scamorza cheese (this would also be good with spinach)

Ingredients

Makes 4 people

For the sauce

• 1 shallot
• 2 garlic cloves
• 3 1/2 cups (700g) passata/pureed tomatoes
• 1 small bunch basil
• 1/2 tbsp olive oil

For the filling

• 12.3 oz (350g) ricotta cheese
• 8.8 oz (250g) raw fresh spinach
• 1 egg
• 2 tbsp parmesan (grated)
• 1 pinch of nutmeg
• salt and pepper

To assemble

• 12 cannelloni pasta tubes
• 4.4 oz (125g) ball of mozzarella
• Extra grating of parmesan

Method

To make the sauce

1. Finely chop the shallot and garlic and saute in a pan with a little olive oil for around 1-2 minutes until soft and translucent but not browned. Add the tomato passata (pureed tomatoes) with some torn basil leaves, salt and pepper and simmer for around 5 minutes, set aside.

To make the filling

1. Add the washed raw, fresh spianch to a large pan and wilt on a medium heat. Add a splash of water (around 1 tbsp) to stop the spinach from burning and to help wilt it all. Leave to cool or rinse under cold water then squeeze out as much water as possible and finely chop.

2. To make the spinach and ricotta filling, add the ricotta, parmesan, chopped spinach, egg, nutmeg and salt and pepper to a large mixing bowl and mix everything together until creamy and thoroughly combined.

To assemble

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C/350F/gas mark 4.

2. To assemble the spinach and ricotta cannelloni, add a few spoonfuls of tomato sauce to the bottom of a large baking dish. Transfer the spinach and ricotta filling to a piping bag or a disposable freezer bag with the corner cut off and pipe the filling into the cannelloni pasta tubes. Add each filled cannelloni tube in an even layer in the baking dish.

3. Top the cannelloni with the remaining tomato sauce then top with torn mozzarella and grated parmesan. Cover with tin foil and bake for 30 minutes then uncovered for 10 minutes or until the cheese is golden and bubbling.

Kitchen notes

Prep ahead: you can prepare and assemble the cannelloni in advance and store it in the fridge for up to 24 hours before baking.

Leftovers: once cooled, you can refrigerate leftovers for up to 3 days and eat cold or reheat in the oven until piping hot.

Freezing instructions: you can freeze the cannelloni for up to 3 months, defrost (thaw) completely then bake.