Cannelloni with ricotta and spinach, the easy recipe with fresh pasta

THE cannelloni stuffed with ricotta and spinach they are one of the most loved, desired and prepared first courses in Italian homes during Sundays and holidays. Soft, creamy, tasty, with a rich filling and a homemade tomato sauce-based dressing: ricotta and spinach cannelloni are truly irresistible and, above all, simple to prepare! Although the times are extended for the resting time of the pasta and for the cooking of the individual cannelloni in boiling water and, finally, for cooking in the oven, the ricotta and spinach cannelloni are actually a dish within everyone’s reach. Just follow the procedure carefully and you will create a dish that will amaze the whole family! After all, even the famous Gabriele D’Annunzio he was a great lover of cannelloni, so much so that he often requested them from his personal cook. In our version we offer cannelloni with ricotta and spinach with tomato sauce, but you can also season them with meat ragù or white ragù, for an even more delicious result!

Ingredients for 10 person

Eggs: 5
00 flour: 500 g
Sheep’s ricotta: 1 kg
Fresh spinach: 300 g
Salt to taste
Grated Parmigiano Reggiano: 100 g
Nutmeg: 1 pinch
Extra virgin olive oil: to taste
Peeled tomatoes: 800 g
Onion: 1/2

Preparation: 2 hours
Cooking: 1 hour
Total: 3 hours
Calories: 411 kcal/portion

Preparation

To make cannelloni with ricotta and spinach, start by preparing the tomato sauce. Peel the onion and chop it finely with a knife.

Using a fork or a food mill with large holes, mash the peeled tomatoes well, then pour two tablespoons of oil into a pan.

Add the chopped onion and turn on the heat to medium-low. Wait until the onion is golden, then add the tomatoes.

Add a teaspoon of salt, mix and leave to cook for about 30 minutes over a low heat. Then turn off and keep aside, covering with a lid.

Pour some extra virgin olive oil into a large pan with high sides or a wok and add the fresh spinach. Let them dry slightly, add a teaspoon of salt and continue cooking until the vegetable water has completely dried.

Pass the ricotta through a narrow mesh strainer to make it smoother and more homogeneous.

Add the grated parmesan or parmesan, salt and nutmeg to the pureed ricotta and mix everything well.

Transfer the spinach to a cutting board and chop it finely with a knife, then add it to the ricotta and mix to create a single homogeneous mixture. Set the filling aside and dedicate yourself to preparing the pasta.

Pour the flour onto a work surface and give it the classic fountain shape. Add the whole eggs to the center of the flour and start beating them with a fork.

With the fork, gradually collect a little flour from the edges of the fountain and mix it with the eggs until you have incorporated the two ingredients well.

When the mixture is rather rough, start working it with your hands until you obtain a solid, smooth and compact dough. Wrap it in cling film and let it rest at room temperature for about 30 minutes.

When the dough has rested sufficiently, place a pan full of water on the heat and add a teaspoon of salt. Take the dough back and detach one piece at a time. Place the piece of dough on a lightly floured surface.

With a rolling pin, roll out the dough until you obtain a very thin sheet, 2 mm thick. Using a pastry cutter, cut the pastry into 10×15 cm rectangles. You should get about 30 rectangles.

Pour one or two rectangles at a time into the boiling water and cook for 1 minute. Drain them, pass them quickly in a bowl with cold water to stop the cooking and then leave them to dry on a clean cloth.

Fill a piping bag with the ricotta and spinach filling and fill the cannellone with a layer of filling, placing it in the lower part of the rectangle of dough.

Carefully roll the sheet of pasta to form your cannelloni.

Pour a drizzle of oil into a ceramic baking dish and add a layer of previously prepared tomato sauce. Spread the tomato puree to completely cover the base of the baking dish.

Add three cannelloni (depending on the size of your baking dishes you can add less or more, considering that 2-3 cannelloni is a single portion for an adult) and cover well with the tomato puree, also pouring it on the edges.

Sprinkle with Parmesan or grated Grana Padano and cook in a preheated static oven at 200°C for 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and immediately serve the cannelloni to your guests.

Tips and tricks

The ricotta and spinach cannelloni can also be seasoned with a sauce based on bechamel and mushroomsor bechamel and asparagus. The important thing is to always add a liquid part to the sauce which will allow the pasta not to dry out during cooking in the oven.

For a touch of freshness you can add the grated zest of a vegetable to the filling lemon Untreated.

You can make a particular version of cannelloni by varying the herbs in the filling: you can replace the spinach with some fresh chard or with field grass. You can also add aromatic herbs, such as dill, which is particularly pleasant in combination with spinach.

If you prefer you can use a pasta machine to make the sheets, the important thing is that you can make rectangles the size of 10×15 cm for the perfect success of the cannelloni.

You can prepare the cannelloni the night before, store them in the refrigerator while still raw and already stuffed, then season them and cook them the next day. This way you won’t have to cook everything at the moment.

storage

The ricotta and spinach cannelloni can be kept in the refrigerator, already cooked, for 2-3 days, inside an airtight container. Before consuming them you can heat them for 10 minutes in the oven at a temperature of 180°C.