Spinach And Ricotta Cannelloni Low Fat Recipes

SPINACH RICOTTA CANNELLONI

Steps:

• Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add garlic and onion, cook for 2 - 3 minutes until translucent. Add tomato, water, salt and pepper.
• Stir, reduce heat to medium, simmer for 5 minutes. Optional: add 1/2 cup water and blend sauce until smooth (I do this for guests!).
• Stir through basil or dried herbs. Set aside.
• Place spinach in a colander and press out most of the liquid (don't need to thoroughly squeeze dry).
• Place Spinach in bowl with remaining Filling ingredients. Mix, taste, adjust salt and pepper to taste (different cheeses have different saltiness).
• Preheat oven to 180C/350F.
• Choose a baking pan which will comfortably fit about 20 cannelloni - mine is 21 x 26 cm / 8.5 x 10.5".
• Spread a bit of Sauce on the base.
• Transfer Filling to a piping bag with a large nozzle (that fits in the tubes), or use a strong ziplock bag. Or do this step using a knife (it's a bit tedious though!).
• Pipe the filling into the tubes. Place in baking dish.
• Pour over remaining Sauce, covering all the tubes. Cover with foil, then bake for 25 minutes.
• Remove foil, scatter over cheese. Return to oven for 10 minutes until cheese is melted.
• Serve, garnished with extra basil if desired.

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.

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 AND RICOTTA CANNELLONI (LOW FAT)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 180°C
• Fry onion and garlic in half the olive oil until softened. Stir in tomatoes and sugar. Remove from heat. Pour into a lightly greased lasagne pan and spread evenly over the base.
• Wash and drain spinach. Remove stalks and chop finely in the food processor. Cook the spinach in the remaining oil for 2 minutes (this can be done in the same pan as the tomatoes - no need to wash it). Transfer spinach to a mixing bowl to cool slightly. Stir in the ricotta cheese, nutmeg, white pepper and half the parmesan cheese.
• Working in batches place spinach mixture into plastic ziplock bags (don't close) to about half full. Cut off a small bit of one corner. Pipe the mixture into the canneloni tubes. Place the filled tubes on the tomato sauce in the lasagne pan. Do as many as you can fit in one layer.
• In the same pan (again, no need to wash), melt the butter. Add the flour and cook, stirring for 1 minute over low heat. Slowly add the milk and cook, stirring constantly, until sauce thickens. Add the chopped parsley and season to taste.
• Cover cannelloni with the parsley bechamel sauce and sprinkle with the rest of the parmesan. Cover with foil and bake for 25 minutes, remove foil and bake for 20 minutes longer.

SPINACH AND RICOTTA CANNELLONI

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 180C ( 350F ).
• Put spinach in a colander and squeeze out excess water.
• Mix ricotta, nutmeg, pine nuts and half the parmesan in a big bowl.
• Lay a sheet of lasagne out and spoon a quarter of the ricotta mix along along the longer edge. Roll lengthways to make a long sausage shape and place into an oblong lasagne dish, cutting to fit if you have to.
• Repeat with rest of mix and sheets. Spoon the tomato sauce over the cannelloni and season with pepper.
• Cover with foil and cook for 25-30 mins, til pasta is tender and sauce is bubbling. To serve, spoon over remaining hot sauce, extra parmesan and basil.