Spinach and Ricotta Cannelloni

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This wonderful vegetarian pasta bake is made up of a layer of rich, homemade tomato sauce, topped with cannelloni pasta filled with a luscious combination of spinach, ricotta, garlic, parmesan and cheddar cheese, a further layer of tomato sauce, all topped with a layer of mozzarella cheese.

Whilst there are a number of steps to this recipe and a relatively long list of ingredients, it comes together surprisingly quickly and is an ideal supper to prepare in advance and cook when you are ready to eat it. Serve with a side salad and, if you like some garlic bread, this delicious supper works as well in the summer as it does in the winter.

How to make Spinach and Ricotta Cannelloni

Collect together the ingredients:

Marinara Sauce –

• olive oil
• garlic, peeled
• passata
• water to swill out the passata container. NB If you are refrigerating or freezing this dish prior to cooking, add a further 100ml water to the sauce. This is to prevent the bake from drying out; the cannelloni will have absorbed some of the sauce in the fridge/freezer and you need the extra liquid to prevent it drying out whilst baking.
• tomato paste
• runny honey (or brown sugar)
• fresh basil
• fine salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• chilli flakes (optional)

Spinach and Ricotta –

• olive oil
• onion, peeled and chopped
• garlic, peeled and finely chopped (not crushed)
• fresh baby spinach
• ricotta cheese
• mature cheddar cheese, grated
• parmesan cheese, grated
• egg
• fine salt
• freshly ground black pepper

Remaining ingredients –

• dried cannelloni tubes (Make sure you buy tubes which do not need pre-cooking.)
• grated mozzarella cheese
• fresh basil leaves, shredded

How to make this wonderful pasta bake:

• Collect all your equipment and ingredients together.

Marinara Sauce –

1. Put the olive oil into the saucepan over a moderate heat. Add the garlic and cook slowly for 2 minutes.
2. Add the remaining ingredients, remembering to swill out the passata container with some water, stir well and bring to a simmer. Cook, covered, for 30 minutes until reduced and thickened, stirring from time to time.
3. Taste and adjust seasoning, if necessary. Remove the sprigs of basil and whole cloves of garlic.

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Ricotta and Spinach –

1. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan over a moderate heat and add the onion and garlic. Cook gently for 5 minutes, stirring from time to time.
2. Add the fresh spinach and continue to cook until completely wilted. Depending on the size of your pan, you may need to add the spinach in batches.
3. Leave to cool then transfer to the centre of a clean tea towel, pull the tea towel up and around the mixture and squeeze as much liquid as possible out of the spinach mix.
4. Tip into a food processor with remaining ingredients. Blitz until thoroughly mixed.
5. Transfer to a piping bag with a large, plain nozzle or use a bag you can snip off the end.

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Bring it all together –

1. Pipe the spinach and ricotta filling into the dried cannelloni.
2. Tip around a quarter to a third of the marinara sauce onto the base of a baking dish and shake the dish to spread evenly.
3. Lay the filled cannelloni on top and pour over the remaining marinara sauce, ensuring all the cannelloni are covered evenly.
4. 5 minutes before you are ready to cook the cannelloni, preheat the oven.
5. Cover with foil and bake in a preheated oven for 30 minutes.
6. After 30 minutes, remove from the oven, discard the foil and sprinkle over the mozzarella cheese. Put back in the oven for a further 10 -15 minutes or until the cheese has melted and everything is piping hot. (NB If you have prepared this dish ahead of time and are cooking it directly from the fridge, cook for an additional 10 – 15 minutes before removing the foil.)
7. Garnish with shredded basil and serve hot with a side salad and some extra freshly grated parmesan. It is also delicious with garlic bread.

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Made this recipe?

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