Spinach ricotta stuffed packaged cannelloni pasta

Moushira Abdel-Malek , Tuesday 23 Jul 2024

Spinach ricotta stuffed packaged cannelloni pasta
Spinach ricotta stuffed packaged cannelloni pasta

 

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

 

400 gm package cannelloni dry pasta

300 gm frozen spinach (thawed, drained)

300 gm fresh ricotta cheese

1 cup tomato sauce 

1 tsp minced garlic

3 cups béchamel sauce (light consistency)

200 gm Parmesan or Reggiano Padano (grated)

200 gm mozzarella (shredded)

Salt + pepper + grated nutmeg 

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

 

Method:

Heat a medium-sized cooking pot on high. Add oil. Stir in garlic and lower heat to medium. When about to change colour; season and add drained spinach. Stir until spinach dries out. Remove away from heat. Stir in 50 grams of each kind of cheese. Add a small amount of béchamel sauce to spinach; almost half a cup and stir to combine and integrate well. Leave aside; covered. Meanwhile, boil tap water in a large cooking pot. Add some salt. Place Cannelloni in boiling water; only for four minutes. Remove with a slotted spatula, on to a bowl of cold water; in batches. Pile aside in a large strainer. When slightly cooled off; fill a piping bag; using a narrow nozzle, with an amount of spinach mixture. Add a ladle or two of tomato sauce to the base of a rectangular baking tray. Distribute well to cover base completely. Hold each cannelloni in one hand and hold piping bag with the other. Insert nozzle into one opening of each pasta tube; pressing to fill through the middle and reaching the end too; without overfilling the pasta tubes. Place over tomato sauce. Continue by layering them in one layer. Add béchamel sauce on top of cannelloni pasta. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over béchamel. Bake in a preheated oven of 200 degrees Celsius, until Parmesan cheese is about to colour. Remove then add the mozzarella and bake again; only until mozzarella melts. Remove away from oven. Allow to rest for ten minutes, then serve; with a green salad aside.


* A version of this article appears in print in the 25 July, 2024 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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