Quick Spinach Cannelloni Recipes

SPINACH BEEF CANNELLONI (MANICOTTI)

Steps:

• Heat oil in a large saucepan or pot over medium high heat. Add garlic and onion, cook 2 minutes. Add carrot and celery, cook 5 minutes.
• Add remaining Sauce ingredients then stir. Bring to simmer, lower heat to medium, cover with lid and simmer for 10 minutes.
• Use a stick blender to blitz until smooth (or cool slightly and use blender or food processor). Set aside.
• Heat oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add onion and garlic, cook 2 minutes.
• Add beef and cook, breaking it up as you go, until it all changes from red to brown.
• Stir in spinach, then add crumbled beef cube, Worcestershire sauce, pepper and 1 cup of Cannelloni Sauce. Stir, cook 2 minutes.
• Remove and cool slightly.
• Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F.
• Transfer Beef Filling into a piping bag with a wide nozzle. Stand cannelloni tubes upright in a container, then pipe filling in. (Or do this step with teaspoon/finger/dinner knife!).
• Spread about 1 1/4 cups Sauce in a 23x33cm / 9x13" dish. Lay the cannelloni on top, then pour over remaining Sauce.
• Sprinkle with cheese, loosely cover with foil.
• Bake 25 minutes, remove foil then bake a further 10 minutes until the cheese is bubbly with some golden spots.
• Remove from oven, sprinkle with parsley if using then serve!

SPINACH & RICOTTA CANNELLONI

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4. Put the spinach and a drizzle of olive oil in a large pan over a low heat. Add the nutmeg, season with sea salt and black pepper, cover and leave to sweat. Help the kids to stir it occasionally until the spinach has cooked down. Place in a bowl and set to one side to cool a little.
• Dice the onion and squash the garlic. In the same pan, heat a drizzle of olive oil and gently sweat the onion until soft.
• Scrunch in the tomatoes through your clean hands and add the garlic and bay leaf. Pick in a few basil leaves and grate in the zest of the lemon half, then let it gently simmer for 20 minutes until the sauce has thickened. Season with salt and pepper.
• Have the kids squeeze the moisture out of the spinach into the bowl. Place the spinach on a board so you can chop it up. Return the spinach to the liquid in the bowl.
• Beat the egg and grate 2 teaspoons of Parmesan cheese. Get the kids to stir the ricotta, egg and Parmesan into the spinach. Season to taste.
• Sit a piping bag in a jug, fold its edges over the rim, then spoon in the spinach mixture. Have the kids help pipe the mixture into the cannelloni tubes and lay them in a 20cm x 25cm oven dish.
• Spread the tomato sauce over the cannelloni. Pick the remaining basil leaves and scatter most of them over the tomato sauce. Slice the mozzarella and lay the slices on top, drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil and season.
• Place in the oven and cook for 35 to 40 minutes or till the top is golden and the pasta tender (if the top browns too fast, cover the dish with foil). Remove from the oven and let stand for a few minutes before serving with the remaining basil leaves.

QUICK SPINACH CANNELLONI

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F.
• Combine egg, ricotta, basil, pepper, and 1 cup each shredded cheese and spinach; spoon into resealable plastic bag.
• Mix pasta sauce and remaining spinach until blended. Spread 1 cup pasta sauce mixture onto bottom of 13x9-inch baking dish sprayed with cooking spray.
• Cut small piece off one bottom corner of spinach filling in bag; use to fill the cannelloni shells, squeezing spinach mixture into both ends of each shell. Place in prepared baking dish.
• Top with remaining pasta sauce mixture and shredded cheese; sprinkle with Parmesan. Cover.
• Bake 20 to 25 min. or until heated through.

SUPER SIMPLE SPINACH AND RICOTTA CANNELLONI

Steps:

• Preheat your oven to 200C /180C fan / gas mark 6 / 400F.
• Place a large colander in the sink. Put the spinach in the colander and pour over enough boiling water to wilt the spinach. Leave to drain and cool.
• Next, gently fry the sliced garlic in a tablespoon of olive oil for a minute or two. Do not allow the garlic to colour. Tip in the 2 tins of tomatoes and bring the sauce to the boil. Turn off the heat and leave.
• Next make the cheese sauce. Melt the butter in a medium sized pan on a low heat. When the butter is foaming, add the flour and stir until it's mixed in. Then keep cooking for 2 minutes, stirring frequently.
• Very gradually add the milk, stirring constantly. Make sure each bit of milk is incorporated before you add the next bit. If you do this slowly on a very low heat, you should end up with a smooth sauce with no lumps. However, if it does go wrong for any reason, you can always use a whisk to beat out the lumps.
• When all the milk is incorporated, turn off the heat and add the parmesan, nutmeg, salt and pepper.
• The spinach should now be cool enough to handle. Squeeze the spinach in your hands to get as much of the water out as you can, roughly chop it and then tip the spinach into a bowl.
• Add the ricotta, basil, lemon zest and lemon juice to the spinach and mix together. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
• To assemble the cannelloni: pour half the tomato sauce into a large ovenproof dish (big enough to fit 12 cannelloni tubes on one level.) Fill each cannelloni tube with about 2 tablespoons of mixture, using a teaspoon or piping bag. Arrange the tubes in the dish. Pour over the remaining tomato sauce and then the cheese sauce, ensuring all the cannelloni tubes are well covered with sauce.
• Bake for 20 minutes until golden and bubbling. Serve with a side salad and some garlic bread too, if you fancy.

SPINACH & RICOTTA CANNELLONI

Steps:

• First make the tomato sauce. Heat the oil in a large pan and fry the garlic for 1 min. Add the sugar, vinegar, tomatoes and some seasoning and simmer for 20 mins, stirring occasionally, until thick. Add the basil and divide the sauce between 2 or more shallow ovenproof dishes (see Tips for freezing, below). Set aside. Make a sauce by beating the mascarpone with the milk until smooth, season, then set aside.
• Put the spinach in a large colander and pour over a kettle of boiling water to wilt it (you may need to do this in batches). When cool enough to handle squeeze out the excess water. Roughly chop the spinach and mix in a large bowl with 100g Parmesan and ricotta. Season well with salt, pepper and the nutmeg.
• Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Using a piping bag or plastic food bag with the corner snipped off, squeeze the filling into the cannelloni tubes. Lay the tubes, side by side, on top of the tomato sauce and spoon over the mascarpone sauce. Top with Parmesan and mozzarella. You can now freeze the cannelloni, uncooked, or you can cook it first and then freeze. Bake for 30-35 mins until golden and bubbling. Remove from oven and let stand for 5 mins before serving.

SPINACH & NUTMEG CANNELLONI

Steps:

• Heat oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5 if you're serving straight away. Pierce the bag of spinach and cook in the microwave following pack instructions (if you don't have a microwave, wilt it in a pan with a dash of olive oil). Leave to cool, squeeze out as much liquid as you can, then finely chop.
• Meanwhile, make the tomato sauce. Heat the oil and fry the garlic until softened. Add the passata and tomatoes, vinegar and sugar, then season, cover and simmer for 10 mins, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat and add the basil. Tip into the base of a large, shallow baking dish.
• To make the filling, beat the ricotta and a quarter of the mascarpone with 50g of the Parmesan and the chopped spinach. Finely grate in half the nutmeg, then beat until well mixed. For the topping, beat the remaining mascarpone with the egg and another 50g of the Parmesan.
• To make the cannelloni, divide the spinach filling into 6 parts, spoon a portion along the top of each lasagne sheet, then roll up into a big, fat tube. Cut in half across the middle with a sharp knife so that you have 2 smaller tubes, then arrange on top of the tomato sauce. As you put them in the dish, push them slightly so that the sauce oozes up the side of the cannelloni, as this will stop them sticking together when they are baked. Spoon the mascarpone mixture on top, making sure you cover the pasta - if it doesn't completely cover the sauce now, it will do once it melts and bakes. Scatter over the remaining Parmesan and grate over more nutmeg. If making ahead, cover and chill - it will keep for 1 day. Bake for 30-40 mins until golden and bubbling.