Spinach & Cream Cheese Cannelloni

A fabulous, fabulous recipe for cold nights and snuggling on the couch with loved ones. It requires some preparatory work but it is absolutely worth it. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

◦ Cannelloni Tubes – 1 box (Carrefour) or Lasagna Sheets

◦ 100g grated cheddar / gouda – Dama Dairy

Spinach Mix:

◦ 2 bunches spinach

◦ 250g cream cheese / ricotta – Happy Cow

◦ 1tsp salt

◦ 1/2 tsp black pepper

◦ 150ml cream

Tomato Sauce:

◦ 6 large tomatoes – diced

◦ Half a clove of garlic – crushed

◦ 2 large onions – diced

◦ 4 spring onions – diced

◦ 1 tbsp tomato paste

◦ 3 tbsp Balsamic Vinegar

◦ 1 tbsp White Wine Vinegar

◦ 75ml cream

◦ 2 tsp sugar

◦ 2 tsp Jaggery

◦ 1 tbsp honey

◦ 2 tsp salt

◦ 1/2 tsp black pepper

◦ 1 bunch (1 tbsp ) of fresh Oregano – chopped

◦ 1 bunch (1 tbsp) of fresh Marjoram – chopped

Instructions:

The Creamy Tomato Sauce:

1. Put the all the tomatoes, garlic, onions, spring onions and tomato paste in a pot with 2 tablespoons of Macadamia oil and cook them down on a medium to high heat for about 10-12 minutes.

2. Add the balsamic vinegar, white wine vinegar, sugar, jaggery, honey, salt, black pepper, oregano and marjoram to the pot and cook for a further 10 minutes.

3. Add 750ml of water (House of Mumbi will be proud), cover, reduce to heat to medium (the sauce should be just bubbling) and let it simmer for about 45 minutes to 1 hour.

4. Once the sauce looks like pasta sauce, remove from the heat and let it cool.

5. Once cooled add the 75ml cream, 25g of the grated cheddar and set aside.

Spinach Mix:

1. Steam the spinach until soft with abit of crunch.

2. Remove the spinach from the heat, add the cream cheese, 150ml cream, salt and black pepper then mix thoroughly.

The Build:

1. Get a large deep dish and put some tomato sauce at the bottom (1 ladle is adequate) to prevent burning and sticking.

2. Fill the tubes with the spinach mix. You could also wet some lasagna sheets (for malleability), cut them into 2, put some spinach mix at the end of one and roll it up – make sure there is enough mix for only one roll.

3. Arrange them in the dish leaving enough space for the sauce to get it.

4. After the first layer, cover with some sauce.

5. Add the final layer and cover with sauce – make sure all the pasta is covered or it will just remain hard and burn.

6. Put in the oven at 200°C for 50 minutes to 1 hour.

7. At the 40 minute mark add the remaining 75g of grated cheddar on top.

8. When golden brown, remove and serve hot with a nice bottle of Chianti.

Buon appetito!