Spinach & ricotta cannelloni

Spinach & ricotta cannelloni

Keep a few portions of this vegetarian classic in the freezer and you'll never be stuck for a satisfying supper

Difficulty and servings

Easy

Makes 10 servings

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 50 mins

Cook time

Cook 40 mins

Vegetarian Freezable

Vegetarian

Method

  1. First make the tomato sauce. Heat the oil in a large pan and fry the garlic for 1 min. Add the sugar, vinegar, tomatoes and some seasoning and simmer for 20 mins, stirring occasionally, until thick. Add the basil and divide the sauce between 2 or more shallow ovenproof dishes (see Tips for freezing, below). Set aside. Make a sauce by beating the mascarpone with the milk until smooth, season, then set aside.
  2. Put the spinach in a large colander and pour over a kettle of boiling water to wilt it (you may need to do this in batches). When cool enough to handle squeeze out the excess water. Roughly chop the spinach and mix in a large bowl with 100g Parmesan and ricotta. Season well with salt, pepper and the nutmeg.
  3. Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Using a piping bag or plastic food bag with the corner snipped off, squeeze the filling into the cannelloni tubes. Lay the tubes, side by side, on top of the tomato sauce and spoon over the mascarpone sauce. Top with Parmesan and mozzarella. You can now freeze the cannelloni, uncooked, or you can cook it first and then freeze. Bake for 30-35 mins until golden and bubbling. Remove from oven and let stand for 5 mins before serving.
Try

Variations

Make the recipe healthier by doubling the quantity of tomato sauce. Use to top cannelloni instead of creamy sauce. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs. To make it meaty, fill the cannelloni with a meat ragu or try adding some chopped fried bacon to the spinach mix.

Tips for freezing cooked cannelloni

Freeze individual cooked portions in ovenproof dishes or foil trays. Simply reduce the cooking time slightly when re-heating.

Tips for freezing

Allow the cannelloni to cool at room temperature before covering well with cling film, then freeze. Always freeze on the day you make it. Defrost uncooked cannelloni in the fridge overnight, then cook as per recipe. To cook from frozen: heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3 and cook, covered with foil, for 1 hr 25 mins. Remove foil, turn oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6 and cook, uncovered, for 20-30 mins.

Per serving

711 kcalories, protein 30g, carbohydrate 44g, fat 47 g, saturated fat 27g, fibre 5g, sugar 15g, salt 1.59 g

Recipe from Good Food magazine, June 2010.

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Latest comments and suggestions

Results 41-54

  • Binder photo Fluffy

    25 March 2012

    Fluffy rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    Very tasty. Used a wide butter knife to fill the tubes - easy to simply squash in.

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  • Binder photo Fluffy

    06 April 2012

    Fluffy commented on this recipe

    OK, but a lot of effort, and ultimately not as tasty or satisfying as the 'Fresh lasagne with pesto' recipe on this website.

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  • Binder photo Tanya M.

    11 July 2012

    Tanya M. rated this recipe

    5 stars

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  • Binder photo Brad

    19 August 2012

    Brad rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    To Roll up with Fresh Lasagne sheets. I used fresh cannelloni sheets in a 200g packet. Simply microwave the whole pack on high for 15secs and they will not split

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  • Binder photo Vicky

    02 September 2012

    Vicky rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    I thought this was delicious! I made half measures and it made 6 portions of 3 cannelloni tubes each, which I thought was more than enough - it was really filling! Maybe because I did individual portions there wasn't nearly enough of the mascarpone topping so I ended up whipping up a quick batch of Béchamel to finish the other portions off. I heeded everyone elses warnings about the sugar in the tomato sauce; as I was making half measures I used one and a half teaspoons instead of tablespoons and it worked really well. Also, the improvised freezer bag/piping bag was a triumph. Fun to make and scrummy to eat - my kind of food!

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  • Binder photo mr baxter

    17 October 2012

    mr baxter commented on this recipe

    messy fun! And very tasty too. I used ready made tomato sauce mixed with a tbsp of purée a little water and a few pinches of oregano,too make it more saucy.

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  • Binder photo auds87

    21 January 2013

    auds87 commented on this recipe

    I made this dish at the weekend and absolutely loved it!! But I didn't use the cannelloni or lasanga sheets. I used a recipe for pancakes and made it with them. it was so easy, just make the pancakes ahead of time and keep them in the fridge and then when your filling is really just share it equally amongst the pancakes, roll them up and tuck into the dish! I would definitely make this recipe time and time again :D

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  • Binder photo auds87

    21 January 2013

    auds87 rated this recipe

    5 stars

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  • Binder photo iliana Todorova

    24 February 2013

    iliana Todorova rated and commented on this recipe

    3 stars

    its fantastic meal

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  • Binder photo Duranfan

    27 February 2013

    Duranfan commented on this recipe

    I have just priced all the ingredients needed to make this recipe at Tesco and it will cost £19.71. No wonder people buy ready meals !

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  • Binder photo ChellyM

    18 March 2013

    ChellyM rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    This was lovely! A bit difficult trying to squeeze the mixture into the tubes in the end I gave up with the piping bag and just put it in my hand, a long process but much easier. We really enjoyed it, and still have another batch for tea tonight.

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  • Binder photo amywalsh1985

    21 March 2013

    amywalsh1985 rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    Very nice, yes a little fiddly getting it into the cannelloni tubes but nothing to put me off. I didn't have a piping bag or even a freezer bag so I used small spoonfulls and squished them in using a chopstick! My one critiscism is that I found the mascarpone sauce went a little dry when baked so I'd be more tempted to use a white sauce next time. Or maybe I just needed to add a bit more milk.. not sure

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  • Binder photo Kazza

    22 April 2013

    Kazza commented on this recipe

    I made this for a meat free Sunday lunch for a family of 4 and had more than enough with one dish for seconds. Real easy to make, definitely not a recipe for someone watching their weight with all the different cheeses and I found the Tomato Sauce a little sweet for my liking. I did change the recipe slightly by using tinned pureed spinach instead of fresh and left out the Basil leaves. The shallow dishes I used were oval and must have been larger than used in the recipe as I found that I needed twice the amount of topping to do both dishes, each dish held 10 Cannelloni tubes. More than enough for Monday tea as well.

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  • Binder photo Kazza

    22 April 2013

    Kazza rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    I made this for a meat free Sunday lunch for a family of 4 and had more than enough with one dish for seconds. Real easy to make, definitely not a recipe for someone watching their weight with all the different cheeses and I found the Tomato Sauce a little sweet for my liking. I did change the recipe slightly by using tinned pureed spinach instead of fresh and left out the Basil leaves. The shallow dishes I used were oval and must have been larger than used in the recipe as I found that I needed twice the amount of topping to do both dishes, each dish held 10 Cannelloni tubes. More than enough for Monday tea as well.

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    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

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Difficulty and servings

Easy

Makes 10 servings

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 50 mins

Cook time

Cook 40 mins

Vegetarian Freezable

Vegetarian

Ingredients

FOR THE TOMATO SAUCE

FOR THE TOPPING

  • 2 x 250g tubs mascarpone
  • 3 tbsp milk
  • 85g Parmesan (or vegetarian alternative), grated
  • 2 x 125g balls mozzarella , sliced

FOR THE FILLING

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Per serving

711 kcalories, protein 30g, carbohydrate 44g, fat 47 g, saturated fat 27g, fibre 5g, sugar 15g, salt 1.59 g

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