Jono & Jules do food & wine

We have a 7 year old at home who is usually very good at eating pretty much anything we put in front of her. Recently though, she’s gone a bit fussy and very plain in her requests. We’re remaining calm and trying to cook some kid-friendly food to coax her back to her adventurous self. Served with salad and garlic bread, the dish was scraped clean.

Wine Suggestion: Youthful, Italian reds are the order of the day, be it a Sangiovese or Montepulciano, or tonight’s choice of Barbera from Pico Maccario in the Piedmont.

Spinach & Ricotta Cannelloni – serves 6

• butter for greasing the dish
• 18 cannelloni tubes (you can use a few more if you have extra filling and enough room in your dish)
• 30g Parmesan cheese, grated, plus extra to serve

FOR THE TOMATO SAUCE:

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 1 clove of garlic, crushed
• 300ml chicken stock or veg stock
• 2 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes
• 2 tbsp tomato purée
• 60g sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained and chopped

FOR THE FILLING:

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 clove of garlic, crushed
• 500g spinach leaves, chopped
• 500g ricotta cheese
• ¼ tsp grated nutmeg

Make the tomato sauce first by heating the oil in a saucepan, then adding the celery, onion, carrot and garlic. Cook gently for about 5 minutes or until softened. Stir in the stock, tomatoes and tomato purée, then season well with salt and pepper, and bring to the boil. Cover and simmer, stirring now and then, for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the filling by heating the oil in a large pan, then add the onion and garlic and cook for about 5 minutes or until softened. Add the spinach and cook over a high heat for a couple of minute until completely wilted. Cool slightly, then stir in the ricotta, nutmeg and plenty of seasoning.

Purée the tomato sauce in a food processor, then stir in the chopped sun-dried tomatoes.

Preheat the oven to 200C/180C fan/Gas 6.

Grease a large ovenproof dish in which the cannelloni tubes can lie in a single layer.

Spoon the filling into the cannelloni tubes. Two teaspoons works best for this; 1 to spoon the filling into the tube, and use the opposite end of the other spoon to push the filling down into the tube.

Arrange the filled cannelloni in the dish, then cover with the tomato sauce and sprinkle with the Parmesan. Bake for 30 minutes, then serve with extra Parmesan on top.

(Original recipe from Mary Berry’s Complete Cookbook, DK, 1995.)