spinach and ricotta

Recipe video above. A lazy meal for midweek that tastes like spinach and ricotta stuffed shells or cannelloni - but without all the labour! Feel free to use your favourite store bought pasta sauce if you prefer. Reheats well and freezes well too!

Spinach &amp; Ricotta Pasta Bake

/ 10 oz ziti pasta, (uncooked,

(150 grams) mozzarella cheese (, shredded (or more!))

lb / 500 g ricotta ((Note 1))

(50 grams) parmesan cheese (, grated)

garlic (, crushed)

(100 grams) grated Mozzarella cheese

salt & pepper

tbsp extra virgin olive oil

garlic (, minced)

tomato passata ((1 standard bottle) (Note 2))

tsp EACH onion and garlic powder

tsp dried Italian Mixed Herbs ((Note 3))

tsp dried chili flakes (,

tsp sugar

salt

Black pepper

water ((if needed))

Parmesan cheese (, grated)

Preheat oven to 350F/180C.

Pasta Sauce: Pour out about 1/4 cup of the passata (to make room to add flavourings). Add the remaining Pasta Sauce ingredients into the bottle, screw the lid on and give it a shake.

Cook pasta&nbsp;for time per packet MINUS 1 minute.&nbsp;

SCOOP OUT 1 mugful pasta cooking water, drain and set aside.

Ricotta Mixture - Mix Ricotta Mixture ingredients in a very large bowl. Use a splash of pasta cooking water if needed to make it creamy.

Add pasta and stir to combine. Transfer to a heatproof baking dish.

Top with Pasta Sauce, top with cheese. Loosely cover with foil.

Bake for 25 minutes, then remove the cover and bake for a further 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted and bubbly.

Serve while hot and fresh!

Spinach and ricotta cannelloni made with a simple tomato, basil sauce and topped with melting mozzarella cheese.

Spinach and Ricotta Cannelloni

shallot

garlic

(700 grams) passata/pureed tomatoes

basil

olive oil

12.3 oz (350 grams) ricotta cheese

8.8 oz (250 grams) raw fresh spinach

(grated)

nutmeg

salt and pepper

cannelloni pasta tubes

mozzarella

Finely chop the shallot and garlic and saute in a pan with a little olive oil for around 1-2 minutes until soft and translucent but not browned. Add the tomato passata (pureed tomatoes) with some torn basil leaves, salt and pepper and simmer for around 5 minutes, set aside.

To make the sauce

Add the washed raw, fresh spianch to a large pan and wilt on a medium heat. Add a splash of water (around 1 tbsp) to stop the spinach from burning and to help wilt it all. Leave to cool or rinse under cold water then squeeze out as much water as possible and finely chop.

To make the spinach and ricotta filling, add the ricotta, parmesan, chopped spinach, egg, nutmeg and salt and pepper to a large mixing bowl and mix everything together until creamy and thoroughly combined.

To make the filling

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C/350F/gas mark 4.

To assemble the spinach and ricotta cannelloni, add a few spoonfuls of tomato sauce to the bottom of a large baking dish. Transfer the spinach and ricotta filling to a piping bag or a disposable freezer bag with the corner cut off and pipe the filling into the cannelloni pasta tubes. Add each filled cannelloni tube in an even layer in the baking dish.

Top the cannelloni with the remaining tomato sauce then top with torn mozzarella and grated parmesan. Cover with tin foil and bake for 30 minutes then uncovered for 10 minutes or until the cheese is golden and bubbling.

To assemble

A simple flaky puff pastry delight filled with spinach, ricotta, Parmiggiano Reggiano, and mozzarella. 

Spinach and ricotta puff pastry

spinach spinach 150 grams)

Parmigiano Reggiano 90 grams

ricotta 225 grams

mozzarella 60 grams

mozzarella (optional)

Salt 1tsp (add as needed)

black pepper

Store-bought rolled puff pastry 320 grams

Spinach ricotta cannelloni with mushroom sauce, absolutely luxurious from the creamy spinach filling to the rich plump mushrooms and the taleggio and truffle oil, add a wonderful compliment to the pasta and sauce, making this a spectacular dish!

Spinach ricotta cannelloni with mushroom sauce

spinach

mushrooms

ricotta

Parmigiano

nutmeg, salt and pepper

cannelloni

evo oil

shallot,

butter

paprika

chives

white wine

half and half cream

g (1/3 cup) Taleggio

truffle oil (optional)

Wash and cook the spinach in a saute pan with evo oil, whole garlic, and chili flakes until wilted and soft. Take off heat, take out garlic, drain, squeeze well, and puree in a small food processor.

In a medium bowl, mix the spinach puree and the ricotta, a pinch of nutmeg, and a little salt. Add the grated Parmigiano, and mix until smooth. Set aside.

In a saute pan drizzle in evo oil, add butter, minced shallot and garlic whole. Let that sauté until shallot begins to soften and toss in mushrooms, season with salt and pepper, paprika, parsley, thyme, and chives.

Add white wine and let dissipate about 2 minutes. Then, add the cream, and cubed Taleggio. Cook on low heat for 2-3 minutes, until Taleggio has melted and become creamy. Turn off the heat, drizzle a drop of truffle oil, if desired, and set aside.

Mushroom sauce:

Fill a pastry bag with the spinach/ricotta mixture and pipe it into the oven-ready cannelloni. Fill from both ends.

Place some of the mushroom sauce at the bottom of a 9x13 inches baking dish.

Arrange filled cannelloni on the sauce, then pour the rest of the sauce over top, spreading evenly.

Cover with foil wrap, and place on the middle rack of the preheated oven. Bake for 20 minutes or the recommended time on the pasta package. Uncover for the last two minutes of cooking. 

Take out of the oven, let sit for a couple of minutes, then serve with a sprinkling of fresh chopped parsley.

Assembly:

Oh, my gosh, I just loved every bite! That creamy sauce was so luscious, and the ricotta filling was wonderful. Perfect comfort food.

What a beautiful recipe! My grandma was used to make canelones for us and we loved it. I lost the recipe but now I have yours to make canelones at home. You share many great tips ❤️

I love that this recipe can cater to a variety of mushrooms, easy to use whatever I have on hand.

Wow these are so good!!  I absolutely loved the mushroom sauce, especially.  Such a great recipe, thank you!

Delicious combination of Spinach, Ricotta and Mushroom. This is definitely  a festive treat. Would love to try this creamy, rich and delicious recipe for the weekend

We loved every single bite of this. This is the ultimate comfort food. So savory in every single bitte! We will be making this often!

It's been ages since I had cannelloni and when I saw your recipe I knew I had to make it. My family loved absolutely loved them!

I highly recommend this recipe! Not only was it simple to make, the flavor was fantastic and my family couldn't get enough. Will be making again!

I'd just bought gorgeous wild mushrooms from the market when I stumbled on your recipe, how lucky!! This is such an elegant, flavorful, heart-warming dish. I made it for friends over the weekend and received so much praise, I forwarded your recipe to them!

I'm always up for pasta and this mushroom sauce sounds so amazing, Can't wait to try it in my kitchen. Thanks for sharing

Top 4 spinach and ricotta recipes from across the web

The most viewed spinach and ricotta recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine

Top Tags

Spinach & Ricotta Pasta Bake

Spinach and Ricotta Cannelloni

Spinach and ricotta puff pastry

Spinach ricotta cannelloni with mus...

Top 4 spinach and ricotta recipes from across the web

The most viewed spinach and ricotta recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engineic_arrow_forward_48px

Top Tags

Spinach &amp; Ricotta Pasta Bake

Spinach and Ricotta Cannelloni

Spinach and ricotta puff pastry

Spinach ricotta cannelloni with mus...

The most viewed spinach and ricotta recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine

Spinach & Ricotta Pasta Bake