We’ll never tire of this classic!
Wine Suggestion: Italian reds work with tomato pasta sauces as they tend to be a little bit more acidic which compliments the acidity of the tomatoes. Given how light the spinach and ricotta are a light chianti or a young nebbiolo will work well.
Spinach & Ricotta Cannelloni – serves 5 to 6
FOR THE TOMATO SAUCE:
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 4 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 2 bay leaves
- ½ tsp dried thyme
- ½ tsp dried oregano
- 6 tbsp tomato purée
- 170ml white wine
- 2 x 400g tins crushed tomatoes
- 1 litre vegetable stock
- 1½ tsp caster sugar
- 1 tsp fine sea salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 10g basil leaves, roughtly torn, plus extra to serve
- 250g cannelloni tubes
- 50g finely grated Parmesan
- 125g grated mozzarella
FOR THE FILLING:
- 250g frozen chopped spinach, defrosted
- 500g ricotta
- 30g finely grated Parmesan
- 100g grated mozzarella
- 1 egg
- 1 large clove of garlic
- a little grated nutmeg
- ¾ tsp fine sea salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
First make the sauce. Heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan over a medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, bay leaves, thyme and oregano. Cook for 3-4 minutes or until the onion is translucent. Add the tomato purée and stir for a minute. Stir in the wine, then turn the heat up hight and simmer until almost evaporated. Add the tomatoes, stock, sugar, salt and pepper. Simmer gently for 35 minutes.
Remove the bay leaves and whizz the sauce until smoooth, then stir in the basil leaves.
Squeeze the defrosted spinach with your hands to get rid of as much water as possible. Put the spinach in a bowl with the rest of the filling ingredients and mix well with wooden spoon.
Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan.
Spread about 375ml of the sauce across the base of a large baking dish (about 23 x 32 cm).
Put the filling into a piping bag (or you can use a sandwich bag with the corner snipped off). Pipe the filling into the tubes until full, then place them in the baking dish.
Pour over the rest of the tomato sauce, making sure to cover all the tubes. Cover with foil, then bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil, then sprinkle with the Parmesan, then the mozzarella. Bake for another 15 minutes or until the cheese has melted.
Garnish with extra basil leaves and Parmesan and serve with a green salad.
(Original recipe from Recipetin Eats by Nagi Maehashi, Pan Macmilan, 2022)
Jono & Jules do food & wine 