Today I felt like having Italian for dinner. Although I am completely aware that having carbs and dairy in the same dish will not help me in my bid to lose a few pounds, I thought- fuck it. It seems to be the case with me and food at the moment, but you know what? At the end of the day, it'll just be an extra twenty minutes on the spinning machine and I will go to bed happy. Diet and exercise can wait a day right? I am not about to give up some decadent kitchen time and a major nom nom moment.
After going through my usual repertoire of pasta recipes, I figured I need to try something new- or at least something that isn't Carbonara Alfredo or Spaghetti Bolognese. I remember making Spinach and Ricotta Cannelloni before and it was delicious so I decided on that. As it turned out, I didn't have cannelloni in my pantry. I'm very skint at the moment so I couldn't be bothered (can't afford really...!) to buy the damn thing. I did have lasagne sheets however, and what are lasagne sheets if not flattened cannelloni, si?
After going through my usual repertoire of pasta recipes, I figured I need to try something new- or at least something that isn't Carbonara Alfredo or Spaghetti Bolognese. I remember making Spinach and Ricotta Cannelloni before and it was delicious so I decided on that. As it turned out, I didn't have cannelloni in my pantry. I'm very skint at the moment so I couldn't be bothered (can't afford really...!) to buy the damn thing. I did have lasagne sheets however, and what are lasagne sheets if not flattened cannelloni, si?
The recipe is simple. In fact, I only made it up after seeing someone on TV make it. I can't remember what it was exactly so I resorted to my can-do, easy-breezy-beautiful attitude and winged it. Who doesn't? I'm not baking so precision wasn't a priority. Anyhow, here's my recipe for Spinach and Ricotta Lasagne. Try it out and let me know if you like it. I know I did!
INGREDIENTS:
For the Tomato Sauce-
-one big jar of Italian Passata. You know the one...the biggest one you can find.
-one large or two medium onions, finely chopped
-four cloves of garlic, minced
-two tablespoons of tomato puree (or more, depending on your taste)
-a pinch of Maldon salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste
-a teaspoon of sugar
-olive oil
-chopped basil
For the Spinach filling-
-two big bags of baby spinach leaves
-a tablespoon of butter
-olive oil
-garlic
-two tubs of ricotta cheese
-two medium eggs
The tomato sauce is pretty easy to do as you can imagine. Sautee the usual suspects of garlic and onions with a pinch of salt to prevent from burning. Pour the jarred sauce, add the puree and season to taste. Let it simmer on low-ish heat for 45 minutes to an hour. As for the Spinach filling...here's a little photo slide.
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| Wilt the leaves in some melted butter, olive oil and garlic. |
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| When cooked, let the spinach cool. Line colander with some kitchen paper, drain the spinach and squeeze out most of the liquid. Mix in with the ricotta, salt and pepper, and the eggs. |
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| Et voila! Now you're ready to layer up! |
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| Spread some sauce at the bottom of your casserole dish. This will prevent the pasta from drying out and burning. |
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| Layer on the lasagne sheets. |
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| Spread the Spinach and Ricotta filling on top of the sheets with a spatula until everything is covered. Repeat and make another layer. |
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| Top the final layer with some more tomato sauce, and pile on the mozzarella. DON'T BEY SHY. The gooey-er, the better. |
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| And there you have it! Serve with a salad or some garlic bread. I like mine...neat. |
Have a great weekend!
Love,
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