Spinach and Ricotta Cannelloni
A delicious and simple ricotta and spinach stuffed cannelloni. Finished with a tomato and basil sauce and lots of freshly grated cheese. A total crowd pleaser!
Servings: 4 people
Equipment
- Piping bag (It really makes it easier to fill the tubes!)
- Dutch oven or heavy bottomed saucepan
- Baking dish (mine measures 11.5 x 8.5 inches)
Ingredients
- 12 cannelloni tubes
For the filling
- 300 grams frozen spinach defrosted
- 350 grams ricotta cheese
- 60 grams parmesan cheese finely grated
- 1 - 2 tablespoons lemon juice plus the zest
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
For the sauce
- 1 batch tomato and basil pasta sauce
For the topping
- 120 grams mozzarella cheese torn or grated
- 50 grams parmesan cheese finely grated
- fresh basil leaves to serve
Instructions
Make the tomato sauce and filling
- Make the tomato and basil sauce, recipe is linked above in ingredient list.
- Make sure you squeeze all the excess liquid out of the frozen spinach, I do this in a clean tea towel (one that I don't mind if it gets stained!)
- While the sauce is simmering make the filling by combining all the filling ingredients by hand or in a food processor. Season to taste, you do want it on the saltier side.
- Place it in a piping bag and put in the fridge until ready to use. You can absolutely use spoons to fill the tubes but a piping bag or a strong snap lock with the corner cut off is much cleaner.
Assembling and baking
- Preheat your oven to 350f (180c). Pick a baking dish that will fit the 12 tubes in with a bit of space to spare. Mine measures 11.5 x 8.5 inches but anything around that size will work.
- In your baking dish place a cup of the tomato sauce.
- Fill each tube with the filling, you should get 12. Place them in whatever pattern you like in the dish.
- Cover with the rest of the sauce and then the grated cheeses on top.
- Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for an additional 15 - 20 mins until the top is golden and bubbling.
- Let it sit for 10 minutes before scattering with fresh basil leaves and serve. Check out the photos in post above and video below.
Video
Notes
Tomato Sauce - You can use a ready made passata or marinara sauce but my homemade basil and tomato sauce is really easy to make and really doesn't take long.
Cannelloni tubes - You can use fresh lasagne sheets and roll them up but I really prefer the convenience of the dried tubes.
Make ahead - Assemble the dish and cover with plastic wrap and freeze for 2 - 3 months. Thaw before baking and add the cheese at the time. It definitely is better making and cooking at the time.