Cannelloni Filled with Ricotta and Spinach

I like my pasta dishes simple. A few ingredients, some olive oil, toss, serve. This cannelloni filled with ricotta and spinach are so easy to make, so filling, so rich that I wonder why I just don’t make it more often.

Mother’s Day is coming (in the Dominican Republic it’s the last Sunday of May), so if you are looking for a dish to serve your mami without straining your cooking muscles, this is it. You’ll make your mama proud.

And speaking of Mother’s Day, today – like every year for the last 5 – I attended the Mother’s Day school recital. A joyous occasion designed to make us mothers feel guilty for thinking we should be working when our kids are trying to express their love through artistic interpretations that only mothers can appreciate.

Then we get handmade gifts filled with love and sorely lacking on talent.

OK, maybe I am a terrible mother.

This year my daughter made a booklet in which she expressed all the reasons why she loves me. Things like “you feed me every day” and “you walk with me to school”.

I’m glad somebody appreciates that I do these things without a judge’s order.

Joking aside, I love being a mother and am fortunate to share my life with this child. I hope I don’t mess up too much, heaven knows no matter what I do I will end up blamed for whatever turns wrong in her life later on.

It’s the circle of life.

Aunt Clara

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Cannelloni Filled with Ricotta and Spinach Recipe

Prep Time

10 mins

Cook Time

1 hr

Total Time

1 hr 10 mins

 

Cannelloni Filled with Ricotta and Spinach Recipe: Delicious dish that is much easier to make that it seems. They will be a hit at the dinner table.

Servings: 6 servings

Author: Clara Gonzalez

Ingredients

For the tomato sauce

• 1/4 cup of olive oil
• 1 large white onion , diced
• 3 cloves of garlic , crushed
• 5 lb [2.3 kg] of very ripe tomatoes , peeled and diced
• 1/4 cup of basil , chopped
• 1 teaspoon of dry oregano
• 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt , or more to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon of pepper , or more to taste

To make the cannelloni

• 4 cups of fat-free ricotta
• 1 tablespoon of garlic powder
• 1/2 cup of basil , chopped
• 3 cups of chopped baby spinach
• 1/4 cup of olive oil
• 18 cannelloni
• 1/2 cup of shaved Parmesan or Pecorino
• 1 teaspoons of salt
• 1/4 teaspoon of pepper

Instructions

To make the tomato sauce

1. Heat the oil over low heat.
2. Add the onion and garlic. Cook and stir until the onion becomes translucent.
3. Add the tomatoes. Cover and simmer over very low heat until the tomatoes are cooked through (around 30 mins).
4. Add the basil and season with oregano, salt and pepper to taste.

To make the cannelloni

1. Heat oven to 350 ºF [175 ºC].
2. Mix ricotta, garlic powder, basil and spinach in a deep bowl.
   
   
   
3. Add the oil and season with salt and pepper.
4. Pour the mix into a plastic bag and cut a corner.
   
   
   
5. Fill the uncooked cannelloni with the ricotta and place on a baking pan.
6. Cover with the tomato sauce.
7. Cover pan with aluminum foil.
8. Bake for 40 minutes or until cannelloni are cooked through.
9. Remove from the oven.
10. Sprinkle with Parmesan or Pecorino, serve with salad.