Tagged: cannelloni

Say cheese to winter goodness

Being winter, all one craves is delicious comfort food. I’m talking about the type of food that after the first bite makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Winter to me is all about pot pies, soup (minestrone, mmmm…), lasagne, casseroles, hot chocolate and sticky date pudding. The list goes on! This morning when I woke up, it was cold, wet and miserable and the only thing I could think about was what I was going to cook for dinner (which ultimately would make everything better!)

For me, cheese is always a winner (whether it’s a grilled cheese sanga or served with a fruit platter), but nothing beats melted cheese. So if you’re looking for a dish that oozes cheesy goodness and screams comfort, then this baked four cheese and spinach cannelloni dish might just be what you need to dig into this winter. It’ll have your family and friends coming back for more (and more!)

(click on thumbnails to view gallery)

Ingredients

500g fresh ricotta

2 eggs, lightly beaten

100g parmesan, grated

150g firm feta, crumbled

2-3 tsps nutmeg

5 large bocconcini balls, torn into small pieces

250g frozen spinach (defrosted and excess moisture drained)

Salt and ground pepper, to season

250g fresh cannelloni sheets (12 in pack)

Sauce

60ml extra virgin olive oil

4 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced

400g can chopped tomatoes

700g bottle tomato passata

2 Tbsp sugar

1 (0r 2) handfuls of fresh chopped basil

Method

Preheat oven to 200 degrees. To make the cannelloni filling, put ricotta and eggs in a large bowl and gently stir to combine. Fold in 70g of the parmesan, feta and nutmeg along with half the bocconcini. Season with salt and pepper.

To make the sauce, heat the oil in in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and cook until golden. Add tomatoes and passata  and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in sugar and basil and season. Once done, spread sauce over the base of a 20 x 30cm baking dish.

To assemble cannelloni, spoon mixture on the long side of the sheet. Roll the sheet into a log shape to enclose mixture. Place cannelloni seam side down in dish. Repeat with remaining mixture and cannelloni sheets. Spoon over the remaining sauce and sprinkle with remaining bocconcini and parmesan.

Cover with foil and bake for one hour then remove foil and cook for a further 10 minutes or until cheese is lightly browned. Serve with garlic bread (if desired).

Now prepare to go into a food coma!