Spinach and ricotta are a match made in heaven, and this spinach and ricotta cannelloni has that creamy, comforting spinach and ricotta stuffing with a rich tomato sauce.
Here we have a meal which is suspiciously similar in both method and look to my Vegetable Enchiladas; not in taste though! It also bears a significant resemblance to my Spinach, Tomato and Goats Cheese Cannelloni – however, I’ve gone for ricotta over goats cheese because I fancied the softer, more delicate taste tonight as opposed to tangy goats cheese.
Anyway, back to the recipe – give it a go; it is desperately straightforward and the use of fresh lasagne sheets rather than dried cannelloni tubes also makes it surprisingly fast to make. What’s not to like?
This will serve 4, and takes 40 minutes to make.
Ingredients, Substitutions and Variations
- Olive oil – you could use vegetable oil.
- Onion – a large brown onion is best.
- Spinach – either use fresh spinach or defrosted frozen spinach.
- Nutmeg – ground nutmeg is spinach’s best friend and makes sure that spinach and ricotta filling has enough flavour to stand up against the tomato sauce.
- Ricotta – don’t sub.
- Fresh lasagne sheets – using fresh lasagne sheets instead of dried cannelloni tubes makes this recipe so much easier. You don’t need to worry about using a piping bag or anything like that – you add the filling then roll around it. Easy peasy!
- Chopped tomatoes – you could also use passata.
- Cherry tomatoes – optional, but they bring some freshness:
- Parmesan – or vegetarian alternative.
Top Tips
- Whizz up the spinach and ricotta If you like, you can use a food processor to whizz up the spinach and ricotta into a paste. However, the great thing about using lasagne sheets is you don’t need to do this – you can leave it nice and chunky if you choose.
- Get ahead This dish can be frozen – simply put the whole uncooked dish in the freezer for up to three months. Defrost thoroughly before baking.
- Change the topping This dish is also great (though cheesier!) with mozzarella on top in place of – or as well as – the Parmesan.
More delicious recipes using spinach:
- Lamb and Spinach Curry
- Vegetarian Spinach and Ricotta Lasagne
- Spinach and Nutmeg Soup
- Spinach and Ricotta Pappardelle
- Spinach and Brie Parcels
- Spinach and Feta Filo Pie
- Spinach and Chickpea Curry with Fried Egg
- One Pot Cheesy Pesto and Spinach Pasta
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Spinach and Ricotta Cannelloni
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion
- 200 g spinach
- ½ tsp nutmeg
- 500 g ricotta
- 12 fresh lasagne sheets
- 400 g chopped tomatoes
- 1 handful cherry tomatoes
- 10 g grated parmesan or veggie alternative
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 220 degrees.
- Chop the onion and add to a frying/saute pan with the olive oil. Saute for 1-2 minutes, then gradually add the spinach until it is all completely wilted. Stir in the nutmeg and a little salt and pepper. Leave to cool for 3-4 minutes.
- Break up the ricotta in a large bowl, and stir in the spinach. Take your fresh lasagne sheets one at a time, and lay a large spoonful of the ricotta mix along one end of the lasagne. Roll it up around the ricotta, then lay in a large oven proof dish. Repeat for the rest of the lasagne sheets.
- Pour the chopped tomatoes evenly over the cannelloni (you probably won’t cover them completely, but that’s fine. Sprinkle over the halved cherry tomatoes and grated parmesan.
- Bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes, until the pasta is cooked and the parmesan is golden.
Get the cook books:
Fabulous dish for diner! I’ll just change ricotta for goat cheese, do you think it can be nice?
Absolutely! I love goats cheese and think it would work really well in this 🙂
What a great idea!!! Lasagna sheets to make cannelloni!!! You should’ve seen my face when I read it…. Thanks for the idea, definitely gonna try it.
Thanks Adriana – I’m glad you like the idea!
A lovely recipe, such a classic combination that really works.
Thanks Janice!
Mmm you’re making me hungry! Looks delish! Would love to try out some of your recipes one day! 🙂
Give them a go – I’d love to hear how you get on!
This looks great! Maybe we should team up with some food ideas!!
Great idea! Your blog is fab too – so readable!
well let me know what ideas you may have, and I will get some together. I am excited!!!
Will do 🙂
This looks delicious! I will have to give this a try. Congrats on the new car!
Thanks Carolyn. The car is brilliant, we didn’t have one at all before so it’s making a big difference!
I absolutely love cannelloni and once tried to blog it – only I served it up by mistake before photographing it. I must make again 😀
Haha, that’s the problem isn’t it – you just want to tuck in!
Looks beautiful. I did a lovely baked cannelloni dish last week filled with cottage cheese and spinach. We are having cannelloni again this evening only Im going to fill it with chilli ??
Sounds delicious!
Corr, comfort food indeed! Love the look of those rolls of pasta, it makes me want to dive in!
Janie x
Thanks Janie!
My mouth just watered.
Haha, thank you!
This sounds so great, and I have some leftover lasagna sheets ?
This looks so inviting!!!
That looks delicious!
Wow, I love cannelloni and you did a really nice presentation ???
Thank you so much! It was really tasty 🙂
This looks great! I like how you used cherry tomatoes on top versus just tomato sauce.
Thanks Susan!
Harriet how ingenious of you using lasagne for cannelloni . . . I think I might have to borrow that idea to please my son who is always asking for pasta in different forms. 🙂 I don’t yet have a spinach recipe on my blog but this has reminded me again how much I love spinach (especially with nutmeg). Ooo. . . new car! 🙂 Enjoy!
Thanks, it was really tasty and so easy too!