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Cannelloni with spinach and ricotta
Cannelloni with spinach and ricotta is a fantastically delicious dish: tender, fresh pasta filled with a heavenly mixture of creamy ricotta and fresh spinach, coated in a velvety tomato sauce and topped with golden brown, melted Parmesan cheese. This recipe is not only a feast for the palate, but also an ode to the simplicity and elegance of Italian cuisine. Embark on this culinary adventure and cook the recipe step by step! Andiamo!
Schritt für Schritt durch´s Rezept
- Step 1Peel the garlic clove, press lightly and gently sauté in the hot olive in a pan. After 1-2 minutes, add the basil and oregano and deglaze everything with the passata. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Simmer the sauce over a medium heat for 15 minutes. If necessary, add a few teaspoons of water during cooking to keep the sauce creamy.
- Step 2Drain the fresh ricotta. Wash the spinach and remove any hard stalks. Place the dripping wet spinach in a large pan, season with a pinch of salt and allow to collapse over a medium heat. Drain off any excess liquid, then leave the vegetables to cool and squeeze out the remaining liquid.
- Step 3Now roughly chop the spinach and mix with the drained ricotta and 80 g grated Parmesan. Season to taste with salt, pepper and grated nutmeg.
- Step 4Preheat the oven to 190°C.
- Step 5Lay out the pasta sheets, place a spoonful of filling near the end of the pasta sheet and roll up lengthways to form a cannelloni. Brush the roll with a little water. Repeat with the remaining pasta sheets.
- Step 6Spread a little sauce on the bottom of the oven dish and place the cannelloni inside. Pour over the rest of the sauce and sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan.
- Step 7Bake the cannelloni in the oven for about 15 to 20 minutes until golden brown. Remove from the oven and leave to rest for 5 minutes before serving.
Cannelloni, named after the Italian word for tube (canna), are pasta in the shape of large, thick tubes. They are about 10 cm long and 3 cm in diameter. To make them, a pasta dough is made from durum wheat semolina, then sheets of dough are made and rolled into tubes.
Traditionally, a mixture of ricotta, spinach or other vegetables and minced meat is used in the filling. Before baking, the stuffed tubes are placed in a baking dish and then – similar to lasagne – covered with tomato or béchamel sauce. Traditionally, a layer of cheese crowns the casserole, some mozzarella, scamorza or parmesan.
Lasagne sheets instead of cannelloni rolls
Fancy cannelloni but no rolls in the house? You can help yourself out with lasagne sheets. They are a practical and readily available alternative to dried pasta tubes or special fresh cannelloni sheets that you can sometimes buy.
- Pre-cooking: Lasagne sheets are often slightly thicker than special cannelloni sheets. You should pre-cook them briefly before filling them to make sure they are soft enough to roll without breaking.
- Cut to size: You may need to cut the lasagna sheets to the desired size, especially if they are very large. They should be large enough to fill and roll up easily. A common size for cannelloni pasta sheets is 10 cm long and 7 cm wide.
Cannelloni step by step
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