Awesome spinach & ricotta cannelloni
This is a super-tasty cannelloni, and I've avoided making the frustrating, painstaking béchamel sauce and given you a much tastier and simpler version. All you need to make sure of is that you fill the cannelloni well with the ricotta and spinach mix, so it's not all full of air. And the lovely thing about it is that it goes crispy and golden on top, but remains soft and moist at the bottom. This is a bit of naughty one but you'll love it!
Estimated Nutrition (whole recipe, rough)
Counts 15 of 16 ingredients — the other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and contribute nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume — 15 portions →
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Ricotta Cheese | 1/2 cup (124g) part-skim | 174 |
| Olive Oil | 1 tbsp (14g) | 119 |
| Parmesan Cheese | 1 oz (28g) | 110 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Mozzarella Cheese | 1 oz (28g) | 85 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Plum | 1 medium (66g) | 30 |
| Tomato | 1 medium (123g) | 22 |
| Nutmeg | 1 tsp ground (2.2g) | 12 |
| Spinach | 1 cup raw (30g) | 7 |
| Black Pepper | 1 tsp ground (2.3g) | 6 |
| Oregano | 1 tsp dried (1.8g) | 5 |
| Garlic | 1 clove (3g) | 4 |
| Basil | 5 leaves fresh (2.5g) | 1 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Marjoram | not in our table | 0 |
Totals for the whole recipe, adding one typical portion per ingredient — listed above. Quantities in the recipe are not counted, so this is a rough guide only — not suitable for medical or dietary planning.
Ingredients
- 2 knobs butter
- olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely sliced
- 1 large handful fresh marjoram or oregano, roughly chopped
- ¼ nutmeg, grated
- 8 large handfuls spinach, thoroughly washed
- 1 handful fresh basil, stalks chopped, leaves ripped
- 2 x 400 g good-quality tinned plum tomatoes, chopped
- sea salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- 1 pinch sugar
- 400 g crumbly ricotta cheese
- 2 handfuls Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
- 16 cannelloni tubes
- 200 g mozzarella, broken up
- 500 ml crème fraîche
- 3 anchovies, finely chopped
- 2 handfuls Parmesan cheese, freshly grated