Italian-style ricotta and spinach cannelloni with a deliciously creamy filling, a tasty tomato sauce and, of course, lots of Parmesan cheese au gratin.
When we run out of ideas for cooking at home or our stocks of fresh vegetables are running low, we often make this quick and incredibly tasty pasta dish from the oven.
We always have a small supply of ricotta in our fridge, as we can't live without this Italian classic. We also always have a pack of frozen spinach at home so that we can always cook this dish if necessary.
But I also like to serve this dish when we have guests, as it is very easy to prepare and only needs to be put in the oven to cook. This gives you time for everything else and you can chat with your guests in peace while the oven does all the work.
Cannelloni is one of the best-known Italian pastas. The name comes from the cylindrical, tube-like shape of the pasta. The word "canna" translates as "tube". Cannelloni was invented in a coastal town called Sorrento near Naples.
Back then, pasta dough was prepared first, then rolled out flat and cut into squares. The filling was then placed in the middle of the individual pasta squares and then rolled up into small rolls.
Nowadays, cannelloni can be bought as tubes in the supermarket and only need to be finished with a filling of your choice. Perfect for when things have to be done quickly
Cannelloni recipes are a dime a dozen. Basically, you can fill the pasta tubes with all kinds of ingredients, place them in a casserole dish, cover them with a sauce and finish cooking them in the oven. Yes, that's right, the pasta is not cooked in water, but simply placed in the oven. Thanks to their creamy filling and the sauce in which they are baked, the cannelloni become soft even without pre-cooking.
In this recipe, I have used fresh spinach and creamy ricotta and complemented this combination with an authentic tomato sauce.
Whether for dinner with friends or as a main course for the family, this recipe is sure to delight everyone! The cannelloni are easy to prepare, but the taste is an absolute dream.
If you think this recipe is complicated, you're wrong. It only takes 20 minutes to prepare and the oven does the rest.
Cooking utensils
- 1 gratin dish
Ingredients
- 24 Cannelloni
Filling for the cannelloni
- 500 gr Spinach fresh or frozen
- 1 TABLESPOON olive oil
- 1 shallot finely chopped
- 250 gr Ricotta cheese
- 1 garlic clove pressed
- 40 gr Parmesan cheese grated
- 1 pinch nutmeg
- 1 TEASPOON salt
- Pepper and/or pepper oil
Sauce for over the cannelloni
- 1 TABLESPOON olive oil
- 1 shallot finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves pressed
- 600 ml tomatoes strained
- 400 ml tomatoes chopped
- 1 TABLESPOON tomato puree
- 1 TEASPOON salt
- Pepper and/or pepper oil
- 1 TSP Herbs de Provence
- 1-2 Toothpick Herb oil Basil, oregano, marjoram and rosemary oil, alternatively fresh herbs
- 100 gr Parmesan cheese grated
Instructions
- Finely chop the shallots, press the garlic
- Heat the olive oil in a pan and sauté the shallots and garlic. Add the spinach, steam briefly and transfer to a bowl to allow the spinach mixture to cool.
- In the meantime, chop the second shallot and crush the garlic cloves. Heat the olive oil in the same pan and sauté the shallots and garlic. Add 1 tbsp of tomato puree and the strained and chopped tomatoes and simmer for approx. 15 mins.
- Add the ricotta, salt, pepper, nutmeg and 40g grated Parmesan to the cooled spinach and mix everything together. Using a teaspoon, fill the cannelloni with the finished filling. Place the filled cannelloni next to each other on the bottom of a large oven dish.
- Preheat the oven to 200°C top/bottom heat.
- Then season the tomato sauce with 1 teaspoon of salt, pepper and herbs to taste. I always use 1 teaspoon of herbs de Provence and 1 toothpick each of basil, oregano, marjoram and rosemary oil to get an intense herbal aroma. If you like, you can also add a little pepper oil to give the dish that certain something.
- Pour the finished tomato sauce over the cannelloni in the oven dish, spread well and sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan.
- Bake for approx. 20-30 minutes in the middle of the oven preheated to 200 degrees.
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