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Spinach and “ricotta” cannelloni – serves 4

“Green tunnels” one of my sons likes to call them and both him and his brother suddenly declared spinach as their favourite food. What a brilliant invention cannelloni is, I feel like I’ll be experimenting with lots of other options! A perfect family lunch or dinner and hopefully there will be many more spinach enthusiasts going popeye crazy.


What you need:

20 cannelloni (approx. 200g)

For the spinach – ricotta filling:

120g cashews – soaked in boiled water for 15mins

2tbsp olive oil

1 small shallot – finely chopped

2 garlic cloves – finely chopped

500g baby spinach – washed

1 tin butterbeans – rinsed (about 240g)

1tbsp nutritional yeast

1tbsp lemon juice

A quarter of a teaspoon of nutmeg

Salt to taste

For the tomato sauce:

800g tomato passata (unseasoned)

2tbsp tomato puree

1tbsp olive oil

1tsp balsamic vinegar

1tsp date sugar or date syrup

1tsp dried oregano

Half a teaspoon of garlic granules

Salt to taste

How you do it:

Preheat your oven at gas mark 6 (200C).

Pour some boiling water over your cashews and leave to soak for approx. 15mins.

In a frying pan heat up the olive oil and fry the shallot for a few minutes until translucent.

Add spinach and garlic and wait until the spinach has wilted, stirring occasionally.

Turn off the heat and drain any excess water without squeezing the spinach.

Drain the cashews and transfer them to a food processor.

Add spinach, butterbeans, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, nutmeg and salt to the food processor.

Blend until you get a smooth paste.

Fill your spinach-ricotta paste into the cannelloni using a piping bag if you have one, alternatively a table knife works pretty well too.

Arrange one layer of the filled cannelloni in a large oven dish.

For the tomato sauce simply mix all the ingredients in a bowl and evenly pour it over the cannelloni.

Cover the dish with tinfoil and bake for 40-45mins, removing the foil after 20mins.



YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT

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