Following on from my Vegetarian theme, I decided to tackle a simple, classic recipe, which oddly, I have never baked before.  A Spinach & Ricotta Cannelloni.  It’s a moderately easy dish and I took inspiration from the allrecipes website.  I slightly adapted mine, which I found really easy to do.  For my version I used

250g Fresh Spinach

225g Ricotta Cheese

2 Egg Yolks

2 Cloves of Garlic Peeled

100g Cheddar Cheese

1 Dessert Spoon of Dried Oregano

100g Mushrooms

1 Red Onion

250g Cannelloni Pasta

500g Passata

1 Desert Spoon Pesto

Firstly, remember to oil your baking dish and make sure it is large enough to line the Cannelloni in one layer (take that as a time saving tip!!)

Place the spinach, mushrooms, quartered onion, Garlic and dried herbs into a food processor and blitz up until a smoothish paste is formed.  It will look quite nuclear green in colour but this will add a great contrast to the finished dish.

Now take the Ricotta Cheese, egg yolks and some seasoning (I used basic Salt and Pepper) and stir until the egg yolks are combined into the cheese.  Then stir in your bright green vegetable mixture.  Using a piping bag, pipe the mixture into the Cannelloni and lay into your oiled baking dish into a single layer.  This can be a messy process, and again, a little time saving tip from me, make sure the piping bag hole is large enough to cope with any pieces of garlic, mushroom or onion that managed to survive the food processor blitz.

Once arranged, drizzle some of your pesto over the pasta, then sprinkle over some of the Cheddar Cheese leaving some for the top, and cover the whole lot with the Passata.  Finally, drizzle the remaining Pesto over the top followed by the remaining cheese Cover with foil and place in a preheated oven, Gas Mark 6 for 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes, uncover and bake for a further 20 minutes.  Insert a wooden skewer into the pasta to make sure it is nice and soft, and, if the topping is not as brown and crispy as you would like, place under a high grill for a few minutes.  Serve with a side salad and garlic bread.

I would love to see your recipes.  If you have tried making this dish, please upload a photo to our facebook page muddykitchenfloor

Enjoy x