I'm Going Bananas

Spinach & Ricotta Cannelloni

Two stuffed cannelloni topped with tomato sauce, bechamel, and melted parmesan on a white plate
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Yield
Serves 6
Difficulty
medium

This week’s recipe comes from our Italian side of the family. As a real estate agent, our mom’s spinach and ricotta cannelloni have become infamous for open houses and office parties. In fact she constantly receives messages asking for this delicious recipe. Although we call these cannelloni, we usually use manicotti instead, just because they tend to be easier to find at the grocery store.

The full pan of baked cannelloni with melted parmesan and tomato sauce visible around the edges
A bowl of mixed spinach and ricotta filling
Ingredients labeled -- whole peeled tomatoes, milk, nutmeg, butter, ricotta cheese, onion, parmesan cheese, flour, manicotti, and spinach

Ingredients

Pasta & filling

  • 1 box cannelloni or manicotti pasta (1 lb)
  • ~1/4 cup parmesan cheese
  • 1 package (10 oz) of chopped frozen spinach (not creamed)
  • 15 oz ricotta cheese
  • 1/4 tsp nutmeg
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • Dash of ground pepper

Tomato sauce

  • 1/4 onion
  • 28 oz can of whole peeled tomatoes
  • 1/8 tsp salt

Béchamel

  • 1 stick of butter (1/2 cup)
  • 4 tbsp flour
  • 1/8 tsp nutmeg
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 cups milk

Instructions

  1. Place the whole peeled tomatoes in a blender or food processor and give it a quick pulse -- just enough to purée them.
  2. In a medium saucepan, heat some vegetable oil to medium-high and sauté the onion (leave the onion in a large chunk so it can be removed later).
  3. Pour in the blended whole peeled tomatoes and simmer with the onion for about 10 minutes, then set aside.
  4. In a medium pot on medium-low heat, melt the butter and whisk in the flour until smooth.
  5. Meanwhile, warm up the two cups of milk in a separate pot or in the microwave until close to a boil.
  6. Slowly add the warm milk while stirring.
  7. Stir the mixture continuously for 5-10 minutes until it becomes creamy in texture.
  8. Stir in the salt and nutmeg and set aside.
  9. Defrost the chopped spinach and drain most of the water.
  10. In a large bowl, using a hand blender or a blender on low speed, mix the ricotta, chopped spinach, salt, nutmeg, and pepper.
  11. Boil the manicotti or cannelloni pasta for about 5-7 minutes until done.
  12. Strain and let cool enough to handle.
  13. With a spoon, fill the tubes with the spinach-ricotta filling and place in a pyrex or aluminum baking pan.
  14. Ladle both the tomato sauce and béchamel over the top and finish with parmesan cheese.
  15. Broil on high for about 5 minutes to melt the parmesan cheese.