Instead of the boring, well-known Bolognese, we’ll prepare an original one. lasagna with spinach and ricotta. The dish is quite light, despite the presence of ricotta (its fat content is 8%).
(Ricotta(ricotta) is a traditional Italian dairy product. Ricotta is often called cheese, but formally this is incorrect: ricotta is not made from milk, but from whey remaining after cooking or other cheeses)
We will need:
1. Spinach (fresh or frozen)
2. Ricotta, half a can, ~125 gr.
3. Lasagna, 6-8 sheets as desired, at the rate of 2 sheets per layer
For the bechamel sauce:
1. Glass of milk
2. 2-3 tablespoons butter
3. 2-3 tablespoons flour
4. ground nutmeg
Preparation
If the spinach is frozen, you need to defrost it naturally or in the microwave. Then lightly fry in a frying pan in olive oil, salt and pepper. Turn off the heat, add the ricotta and mix well until a creamy filling forms.
In a large saucepan, boil water, add salt, and cook the lasagna sheets, one at a time, for several minutes. If you cook everything together, there is a risk that they will stick together. So, throw one sheet into boiling water and make sure that its edges do not stick to each other, after 3-4 minutes we pry it from below with a spatula and place it on a flat surface, for example on a board or directly on the table. So we cook all the lasagna sheets and place them side by side, again so that they do not stick together.
Now let's prepare the bechamel. Heat the milk over low heat in a small saucepan, add butter and nutmeg, and salt to taste. Add flour little by little, mixing well so that no lumps form. Gradually the sauce will begin to thicken, and as soon as we get the consistency we need, we can remove it from the heat. If the sauce becomes too thick, you can add a little water or preheated milk.
Assembling the lasagna :) We take some kind of baking dish with a high side, preferably the size of our lasagna, but a little larger is possible. Pour a little olive oil into the bottom. Place 2 lasagna sheets side by side, top with spinach and ricotta filling and a little sauce. Cover with a second layer, and so on until the ingredients run out. Leave a little sauce, you will use it to pour the already assembled lasagna from the edges so that it does not become dry during baking.
Place the dish in an oven preheated to 200° for 15-20 minutes. You can first sprinkle the lasagna with cheese on top, or sprinkle cheese between the layers, but that’s up to everyone’s preference. Of course, it is better to serve lasagna right away, but even warmed up it also makes a very worthy impression.
Cannelloni is one of the popular dishes of Italian cuisine. These are tube-shaped pasta filled with spinach, soft cheese or meat, covered in sauce and baked in the oven under a layer of Parmesan cheese. For many, this dish tastes like Italian lasagna, only it looks much more interesting and unusual. In our article we will tell you how to prepare cannelloni with ricotta and spinach step by step. Recipes with photos of finished dishes will be presented below.
Even a novice housewife can bake cannelloni according to the recipe with spinach and ricotta. The main thing is to follow the sequence of actions when preparing and take into account all the advice from experienced chefs. The most important recommendations are presented below:
- It is recommended to boil and cool the pasta tubes before stuffing. To do this, the cannelloni are dipped in a large amount of boiling salted water, and after 2 minutes the pasta is transferred to a bowl of cold water.
- Depending on taste, the ratio of cheese to spinach may vary. You can add more ricotta and less herbs to the filling, or vice versa.
- The dish will be juicy thanks to the bechamel sauce. To prevent a milky film from forming on the surface of the cooked sauce, it is recommended to add a piece of soft butter (20 g) to it at the very end of cooking.
Classic cannelloni recipe
The famous dish of Italian cuisine has long been loved all over the world. Filling with spinach and traditional whey cheese for pasta in the form of tubes is both tasty and healthy. In addition, a large amount of sauce makes the dish very juicy and satisfying. In general, the process of preparing cannelloni with ricotta and spinach consists of the following steps:
- Preparing the filling for stuffing the tubes.
- Boil cannelloni according to package instructions.
- Assembling the dish.
- Baking.
Let's look at each stage in more detail.
How to prepare juicy cannelloni filling?
Both fresh and frozen spinach are suitable for this dish. Cannelloni with ricotta will turn out equally tasty in both the first and second cases. The filling for a frozen spinach dish is prepared as follows:
- Crush the garlic (2 cloves) with the flat side of a knife and fry in a frying pan with olive oil for 1 minute, then set it aside.
- Without defrosting spinach (200 g), place it in aromatic oil. Cook with constant stirring for 7 minutes.
- When the liquid has completely evaporated, add salt and pepper to the spinach. After this, transfer it to a bowl and cool.
- Combine cooled spinach with ricotta (200 g). Mix the filling.
Sauce for the dish
Bechamel is an ideal sauce not only for lasagna, but also for cannelloni - with spinach, ricotta or minced meat. Almost every housewife knows how to cook it:
- Place the frying pan on low heat, put butter (30 g) in it and melt it.
- Add a tablespoon of sifted flour. Stir until the mixture is homogeneous and without lumps.
- Pour in 200 ml of milk and 150 ml of cream in a thin stream. At the same time, constantly stir the contents of the pan.
- Over medium heat, bring the sauce to a thick consistency, remembering to stir it constantly.
- At the end of cooking, add salt, black pepper and grated nutmeg.
Assembling and baking cannelloni with béchamel sauce
To stuff pasta tubes (8 pcs.) with filling, they should first be boiled for two minutes. After the sauce is ready, you can begin to form the dish:
- Pour sauce over the bottom of the baking dish.
- Remove boiled cannelloni from cold water and fill with filling.
- Place the spinach and ricotta stuffed cannelloni in a baking dish on top of the sauce. It is advisable to lay the tubes in one layer, then they will be better saturated with the sauce and will turn out tastier.
- Pour the remaining sauce over the pasta and sprinkle with grated Parmesan (30 g).
- According to this recipe, cannelloni with ricotta and spinach should be baked in an oven preheated to 180° for about half an hour. A few minutes before the end of cooking, turn on the grill to allow the cheese to brown.
- It is recommended to cool the dish slightly before serving.
Stuffed cannelloni with tomato sauce
The next dish is prepared with the addition of tomatoes. It tastes a little different than traditional cannelloni with ricotta and spinach, but no less interesting. The dish is prepared in the following sequence:
- Pour a little olive oil into a frying pan and sauté the onion until translucent, then the garlic for 1 minute.
- Add diced tomatoes (6 pcs.) or put tomatoes in their own juice from a jar (800 ml).
- If necessary, add a little water to the tomatoes and simmer them until tender along with the onions. At the end of cooking, add oregano, a little sugar, salt and pepper.
- Chop spinach (400 g) and simmer in a frying pan with water. After this, drain the excess liquid, cool the greens and combine with ricotta (250 g). Add spices, squeezed garlic (2 cloves) and grated nutmeg to taste.
- Fill a pastry syringe with filling.
- Stuff boiled cannelloni with spinach and ricotta.
- Place the tubes in a baking dish directly on top of the tomato sauce. Top them with cream (120 ml) and sprinkle with grated Parmesan.
- Cook the dish in the oven for 45 minutes at 180°.
Cannelloni stuffed with spinach and ricotta and creamy sauce
When preparing this dish, you can use not only bechamel, but also other sauces, for example, cream-based. In this case, cannelloni with ricotta and spinach will be prepared in the following sequence:
- Fry the crushed garlic with a knife in olive oil for a minute, then remove it from the pan.
- Place fresh or frozen spinach (350 g) into the heated oil and cook for a few minutes. At the end add salt and spices. Remove from heat.
- Boil cannelloni (400 g) until half cooked.
- Combine cooled spinach with ricotta (350 g). Stuff the pasta with the mixture and place it in a refractory dish.
- Pour cream of any fat content (500 ml) into a saucepan, bring almost to a boil and add processed cheese (50 g). Stirring until it is completely dissolved. The sauce will immediately thicken. You can add salt and Italian herbs to taste.
- Pour hot sauce over the tubes in the mold. Place the dish in the oven (200°) for 25 minutes. 5 minutes before the end of cooking, sprinkle with cheese.
Jamie Oliver's Ricotta and Spinach Stuffed Cannelloni
We offer the following recipe for an Italian dish from a famous chef:
- Frozen spinach (400 g) is placed in a frying pan with heated oil and cooked over low heat, covered, for 15 minutes. Add salt and ground nutmeg (1/4 tsp) to taste.
- Pour a little oil into a separate frying pan. Add garlic (2 cloves), 800 g of canned tomatoes, dried basil (1 tbsp). The sauce is brought to readiness for about 30 minutes.
- The cooled spinach is mixed with grated Parmesan (100 g), 250 g of ricotta and an egg beaten with a fork. The filling is transferred to a pastry bag or plastic bag with the spout cut off.
- About 14 pieces of cannelloni are filled with the resulting mixture from a pastry bag and placed in a mold in one row. Tomato sauce is placed on top of the tubes and 200 ml of water is poured. Then the dish is sprinkled with grated or sliced mozzarella (200 g).
- After 40 minutes of baking in the oven at 180°, the cannelloni will be ready.
To prepare a pie with ricotta and spinach, you need to take out the puff pastry without yeast in advance to defrost.
Wash the spinach leaves well and dry them on dry paper towels. Chop the clean spinach.
Don’t let the resulting volume of chopped spinach scare you, that’s how it should be.
Heat melted butter in a frying pan and add chopped spinach to it.
Simmer for a short time - 2-3 minutes - until the spinach seems to wilt (soften). At the same time, you will see how the volume will decrease significantly.
Place the spinach in a bowl and set aside to cool.
Prepare the remaining ingredients for the filling.
Grate Parmesan (I used Djugas cheese). Cut smoked salmon into small pieces.
Place the ricotta and egg in a large bowl and mash everything with a fork.
Add chopped salmon, grated cheese, crushed garlic clove (optional) and cooled spinach to the cheese mixture - squeeze it well from excess moisture with your hands before adding it. Mix.
At this stage, you need to taste the salt - add salt and pepper if necessary. But don't forget that the salmon and Parmesan are already quite salty.
Divide the defrosted dough in half.
Roll out each part a little, forming something like a circle with a diameter of about 30 cm.
You can form the pie directly on a baking sheet, so line it with baking paper. Lay out the first sheet of dough.
Next, lay out the filling - a couple of spoons in the center, and the rest with a roller around the edges.
Cover with a second layer of dough.
Cover the central part with the filling in a bowl or cup of a suitable size. Bring the edges together and secure with a fork. Trim excess dough (if necessary) to make the pie more round.
Using a sharp knife (very convenient for cutting pizza), cut in circles into segments approximately 3 centimeters thick.
Spinach. He poisoned the lives of many generations of children. The myth of its exceptional usefulness arose from a misunderstanding. All responsibility rests with the typist of one prominent American researcher. The woman simply made a typo, which led to the publication of a serious work on the iron content in food products in 1890. The typist just missed a comma, thereby “increasing” the iron content in spinach tenfold: the scientific work said that spinach contains 30 mg of iron per 100 g of product, but in fact only 3 mg! The error was corrected only 30 years later. But until then, millions of American mothers selflessly fed their children spinach to compensate for iron deficiency in their growing bodies.
From 1930 to 1960, spinach consumption in the United States increased by a third compared to previous periods! Other nations followed the American example, albeit with less zeal.
(Source: French magazine "Saveurs")
Do you remember the cartoon about Popeye the sailor? It was also created, by the way, to raise the authority of this product after the article was published.
Ingredients:
400 g puff pastry
3 eggs
100 ml cream
200 g ricotta cheese
500 g spinach
100 g pine nuts
50 g grated parmesan
olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 180C.
Place the dough in a baking dish with a diameter of 22-24 cm, creating sides and prick with a fork. Cover with parchment and sprinkle cereal or beans on top to prevent it from bending. Bake for 15 minutes.
Wash the spinach and remove large tough stems.
In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, simmer the spinach in olive oil with a little water for 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Then remove from heat and cool.
Beat the eggs into the pan with the spinach, pour in the cream, add the ricotta, Parmesan and pine nuts. Stir the mixture, add salt and pepper. Place on puff pastry crust.
Place in preheated oven for 25 minutes.
Serve the tart with a salad of fresh vegetables and herbs.
Bon appetit!
Calories: Not specified
Cooking time: Not indicated
If you are a lover of pasta and various pasta products, here is an incredibly tasty recipe with photos - cannelloni with ricotta and spinach. Cannelloni is often stuffed with minced meat, but our version produces a healthier dish. Spinach can be used here fresh or frozen, I use the first option. In addition to cannelloni, ricotta and spinach, we will need to prepare bechamel sauce. Just imagine the amazing taste that comes out of the final result – you can lick your fingers. You can serve cannelloni with a salad of fresh vegetables or just sliced vegetables. The dish is perfect for a lunch meal, cannelloni can also be served on a holiday table, I think the guests will definitely like it. I also prepared for you.
- cannelloni – 6-8 pcs.,
- fresh spinach – 200 gr.,
- ricotta – 200 gr.,
- hard cheese – 60 gr.,
- dry garlic – 1 tsp,
- salt, pepper - to taste,
- butter – 40 gr.,
- wheat flour – 1 tbsp.,
- milk – 300-350 ml.,
- nutmeg – 1 pinch.
Recipe with photos step by step:
Prepare fresh spinach - rinse the leaves well under cool running water and dry a little. Afterwards, you can pour boiling water over the spinach, or you can lightly simmer it in a frying pan over low heat. 
Then combine the ricotta and spinach in a blender bowl. Grind the ingredients to a smooth green paste. 
Add salt, pepper and granulated garlic to the cooked pasta. Stir again and take a sample. 
Boil the cannelloni for two minutes in salted water, then transfer the tubes to cold water, then dry. 
Prepare the sauce - take a saucepan and put butter into it, melt the butter and add a spoonful of wheat flour. Mix the ingredients well so that the flour is well dispersed. 
Pour milk in a thin stream and mix the sauce thoroughly so that no lumps form. 
After 2-3 minutes of cooking, the sauce will become quite thick, add a pinch of nutmeg to the sauce. 
Fill the cannelloni with the prepared pasta. 
Pour some of the sauce into a heat-resistant dish and place the stuffed cannelloni. 
Pour the remaining sauce over the cannelloni and sprinkle with hard cheese. Pre-grate the cheese on a fine grater. Bake the dish for 20-25 minutes at 180 degrees. This one turns out no less tasty.
Loading...