Deliciously succulent pasta tubes filled with aubergine, ricotta, spinach, parmesan and smoked Fior di Latte, topped and bottomed with home made tomato sauce ….. salivating yet?
This week’s recipe is a home-cook’s dream as it can be prepared well ahead of time and gently reheated to serve topped with fresh basil leaves. It can be made in very large quantities for parties and freezes well.
We’ve used gluten-free cannelloni tubes of course, Casalare brand is our favourite, but if that’s too fiddly, you can simply layer flat sheets of pasta, filling and tomato sauce to make a lasagne.
If you’re really wanting to speed up the process then use purchased tomato passata and frozen spinach instead of preparing your own.
We love the flavour of the smoked Fior di Latte (or mozzarella) but if you’re having trouble finding it go for the unsmoked variety which is readily available.
No matter whether you go tubular, purist or speedy, we’re sure you’ll love this week’s recipe.
PS. We’ve been serving our gluten-free version to our gluten-tolerant friends and they’re very happy and, actually, none the wiser.
Rosie
CANNELLONI WITH AUBERGINE, SPINACH, RICOTTA AND
SMOKED FIORE DI LATTE
Serves 4 as a main meal, 6-8 as an entrée
1 large eggplant
2 teaspoons salt
1 bunch English Spinach
2 cloves garlic, minced
40 ml olive oil
850 ml home made tomato sauce (see below) or purchased tomato passata
¼ bunch basil leaves, torn, plus extra for garnish
150 gm fresh, full fat ricotta
120 gm smoked Fior di Latte (or smoked mozzarella) cut into small dice
60 gm fresh parmesan, finely grated
200 gm g-f cannelloni tubes (we use Casalare brand)
Cut eggplant into small dice. Sprinkle with salt, place in a colander over a bowl and set aside for 30 minutes to allow any bitter juices to drain out.
Wash and trim the spinach then blanch in boiling water until just wilted. Remove, drain and when cool enough to handle squeeze out the liquid. Finely chop the spinach.
Remove eggplant dice from colander and pat dry with absorbent paper.
Heat olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat and add the eggplant. Cook until the eggplant is brown and tender.
Add half the basil leaves to the tomato sauce.
In a large bowl, mix the ricotta and 4 tablespoons of the tomato sauce until smooth. Add the Fior di Latte dice, the eggplant, spinach, 20gm of the parmesan and the remainder of the basil.
Preheat oven to 180°C.
Spread half of the remaining tomato sauce onto the base of an oven-proof baking dish.
Spoon or pipe (piping is easier and much quicker) the filling into the cannelloni tubes and place closely together in rows on top of the tomato sauce in the baking dish.
Spoon the remaining tomato sauce over and sprinkle with remaining parmesan.
Bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden on top then allow to rest for 5 minutes before serving. Serve garnished with basil leaves.
HOME MADE TOMATO SAUCE
Makes 1 litre approximately
60 ml olive oil
1 brown onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 400g tins Italian peeled tomatoes
½ teaspoon salt (or to taste)
1 teaspoons sugar (or to taste)
Freshly ground black pepper
Heat olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat and sauté the onion and garlic until soft but not coloured.
Puree the tinned tomatoes with their liquid and add to the onions. Season with salt, sugar and pepper and simmer, stirring often, until it has reduced by one third.
TIP: The tomato sauce will store in the fridge for a week and freezes well. Make a double or triple batch to keep on hand in the freezer.