Spinach and Ricotta Cannelloni | Cannelloni di Magro

See Also:

• Eggplant Lasagna | Lasagne alla Norma
• Pesto Lasagna with Green Beans and Potatoes
• Roman Style Spinach | Spinaci alla Romana Recipe
• Savory Cannoli Recipe

How to Make Spinach and Ricotta Cannelloni Recipe from Scratch

PLEASE NOTE: The preparation times include the time for making the fresh homemade pasta, the homemade besciamella, the cannelloni filling and the tomato sauce. You can of course prepare them ahead of time and on different days.

• Prep Time: 1 H 20 Min
• Cook Time: 40 Min
• Servings: 6

Ingredients

Ingredients for about 18 cannelloni (3 cannelloni per serving)

For Homemade Pasta

• 200 g (1 ½ cup) of “00” Soft Wheat Flour
• 200 g (1 ½ cup) of durum wheat flour (semola flour)
• 4 eggs of at least 70 g (2,5 oz) each. Fresh homemade pasta usually wants 1 egg x 100 g (¾ cup) of flour.

PLEASE NOTE: you can make fresh homemade cannelloni following our step-by-step recipe. Or you can buy authentic Italian cannelloni, oven-ready (no need to boil them), made with durum wheat.

For Besciamella Sauce

• 500 ml (2 cups) of milk
• 50 g (1,7 ounce or ¼ cup) of unsalted butter
• 50 g (1,7 ounce or 4 tablespoons) of all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon of fine salt
• freshly grated nutmeg

Spinach and Ricotta Filling

• 300 g (11 oz) of fresh spinach
• 250 g (8,8 oz ) of ricotta
• 100 g (1 cup) of grated Parmigiano cheese
• 1 egg
• freshly grated nutmeg
• fine salt
• freshly ground black pepper

 For Tomatoes Sauce (Optional)

Tomato sauce is optional. You need it if you want to make “red” spinach and ricotta cannelloni, that is, with a little tomato. If, on the other hand, you prefer “white” cannelloni, i.e. topped only with béchamel and Parmigiano, leave it out.

• 500 ml (about 2 cups) of tomato passata that you can make with our fantastic recipe or buy it already made, ready to use. We reccomend Mutti Tomato Puree (Passata)
• 1 little onion
• 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
• fine salt to taste

First make the tomato sauce. You can make it 1 or 2 days in advance and store it in the refrigerator. You can also freeze it. Skip this step if you want to make the cannelloni “in bianco”, without tomatoes (see the paragraph below).

Finely chop the onion. Sauté in oil for a few minutes in a saucepan. Add the tomato passata and a pinch of salt. Stir, cover and cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes. When ready, set aside.

How to Make Fresh Cannelloni Pasta

Now we are going to show you how to make homemade cannelloni pasta. It takes about 1 hour. The recipe is the same as the one we use to make lasagna noodles. Once lasagna sheets are ready, they should be rolled up to make homemade cannelloni.

You can also buy ready-made cannelloni. We recommend Cannelloni Durum Wheat Pasta by Rustichella D’ Abruzzo because they are ready to go in the oven, so you don’t have to cook them first.

If you are making this recipe with store-bought cannelloni, skip this step.

Step 1) – Put the flour on a work surface and make a hole in the center. Add the eggs.

Knead the eggs and flours with your hands for about 10 minutes. If the dough is too soft and sticky, add more flour. If the dough is too hard and difficult to knead, add a little water.

Step 2) – Form a ball and wrap in plastic wrap. Let it rest at room temperature for about 30 minutes. (While the dough is resting, you can prepare the béchamel sauce and the filling. See next steps).

Now dust the work surface with a little flour, using durum wheat flour. Take a piece of dough about the size of a tennis ball and crush it between the palms of your hands. Wrap the rest of the dough in plastic wrap to keep it soft.

Roll Out the Pasta Dough

Step 3) – Roll the dough through the widest setting of your pasta machine or pasta roller attachment. Remember to dust the dough with wheat flour if you feel it is getting sticky.

Step 4) – Fold the dough in half and then fold it in half again.

Step 5) – Then roll the folded dough (again) through the widest setting of the pasta machine. Repeat the process 3-4 times (roll-fold-roll) until smooth.

Step 6) – Now you can start rolling the dough through all the other settings of the pasta machine, from widest to narrowest.

We have found that the second to last setting makes the dough rather thin, perfect for cannelloni pasta.

Step 7) – You now have long strips of fresh dough.

Cut them into rectangles about 10 cm x 15 cm (4 x 6 inches). These are your cannelloni, which you need to stuff and then roll up.

For more informations and details you can read our recipe “How to make homemade pasta“.

Make the Bechamel Sauce

You can also find ready made béchamel sauce at the grocery store. But believe us when we tell you that the homemade béchamel sauce recipe is super easy to make and delicious. Much better than the one you buy already made. So let’s see how to make it.

Step 1) – In a pan, prepare the “roux” by melting the butter and adding the flour. Stir with a hand whisk to remove any lumps.

Step 2) – Pour the milk into a saucepan and heat it slightly. Turn off the heat and pour the warm milk into the roux, stirring quickly with a hand whisk.

Return to the heat. Season with salt and a little nutmeg. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the béchamel has reached the desired consistency.

Cover with plastic wrap and set aside. You can also store it in the refrigerator for a couple of days. However, the plastic wrap must be in contact with the béchamel. This is the only way to prevent that unpleasant film from forming on the surface.

For more informations and insights see our recipe: how to make Béchamel sauce (Besciamella)

How to Make the Spinach and Ricotta Filling for Cannelloni

Step 1) – To prepare the filling, first remove the leathery part of the stem from the spinach and wash them (if using fresh spinach).

Boil the spinach leaves for 3-4 minutes in a pot with a little water and a pinch of salt.

Step 2) – Drain, allow to cool and squeeze well. Then chop them with a knife. We do NOT recommend using an electric blender as it will reduce the spinach to mush.

Step 3) – Place the spinach in a bowl. Then add the ricotta (well drained of its water), the egg and the grated Parmigiano cheese.

Finally, add the grated nutmeg and a little black pepper. Season with salt and mix well until smooth. Set aside.

How to Make Homemade Spinach Ricotta Cannelloni

Now that we have all our preparations ready, we can put them together to make Spinach and Ricotta Cannelloni. Let’s see how to do it.

Step 1) – Quickly blanch the pasta sheets in boiling salted water.

Take a fairly large pot. Fill it with water, add a little salt and bring to a boil. When it boils, add a tablespoon of oil. Now dip the sheets of dough one by one. It only takes a few seconds. Drain them well.

Step 2) – Once removed, place them on clean dish towels.

Note: This step is not always necessary, but we recommend it if the dough is not very thin.

Step 3) – Now place about two tablespoons of the filling on one side of the dough rectangle (not in the center).

Roll the dough on itself around the filling to form cylinders (cannelloni).

Step 4) – Spread two tablespoons of the béchamel sauce and one tablespoon of the tomato sauce in the bottom of a baking dish. Then arrange the cannelloni inside the casserole.

Step 5) – Top with plenty of béchamel sauce and grated Parmigiano cheese.

Step 6) – Add 2-3 tablespoons of tomato sauce. This should not be too much. The béchamel remains the main sauce in this recipe.

Place the baking dish in a hot oven at 200°C (390°F) and bake for 15 minutes. To get a nice crispy crust on top, you can turn on the grill for the last 2-3 minutes.

When cooked, remove from the oven and let the ricotta and spinach cannelloni rest at room temperature for 5 minutes. Serve hot.