Last minute cannelloni

First of all I need to ask you to be patient as I made this recipe quite some time ago and have only just got round to writing it up. It may be hazy in places and probably not exactly how I made it but hopefully you'll get the idea about this simple Italian dish. I decided to make this just after my lasagne post a few weeks back as I had so many of the ingredients in my fridge and store cupboard, in particular the ricotta which was soon to be going past its best. Obviously the first food pairing that comes to mind is spinach and luckily I had some in the freezer. The beauty of this dish is that you can have most of the ingredients in your cupboards and freezer, only needing to buy one or two extra fresh ingredients if you don't have them already. I made it quickly after work, worth the extra effort when it came to the eating. Feel free to skip the white sauce and just use some mascapone let down with a bit of milk. I was going for cheap and cheerful but to make it more luxurious use some sliced or grated mozzarella on top too. The beauty of this recipe is it can be a humble weekday dinner or an oozy cheesy dinner party meal depending on what you put on it. It's also perfect for when you have vegetarian guests over too. A jolly good all rounder!

Spinach and ricotta cannelloni 

Serves 4

Spinach filling
400g frozen spinach, defrosted and squeezed of all excess water
250g ricotta
zest of 1 lemon
salt and pepper to taste
small grating of fresh nutmeg

Chop the spinach up and then mix with all the other ingredients. Put inside a piping bag if you have one or just keep to one side in a bowl if not

Tomato sauce
1 onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp sugar or honey
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
chopped basil, oregano and rosemary.

Bechamel Sauce
Follow the recipe in my lasagna post (you might not need the whole recipe)

Fry off the onion until soft then add the garlic. Saute for a couple of minutes then add all the other ingredients. Cook slowly, the slower the better for at least 45 minutes, stirring often to prevent it catching.

8 sheets of lasagna pasta or cannelloni

Boil some water and blanch the pasta until slightly soft, about 4-5 minutes.

Lastly assemble. Spread the tomato sauce on the bottom of and ovenproof dish (I did this the wrong way round.)

Fill your pasta with the spinach filling, place on top of the tomato sauce. 

Lastly pour over the bechamel and grate some Parmesan or cheddar over the top. Bake at 180 degrees until golden on top and the pasta is soft.