Sizzling Spinach and Vegan Ricotta Cannelloni Recipe

Spinach and Vegan Ricotta Cannelloni

This used to be a favourite of mine in my veggie days, along with the little spinach and ricotta pasta parcels. Alas, life is too short to be making little individual parcels, but Vegan Spinach and Ricotta Cannelloni? I'll take that, thank you very much!

This didn't take much tweaking from the recipe I used to use back in the day, the only significant differences are using ricotta made from tofu and using dairy free cream. I used the Elmlea one today, but Alpro works just as well

There are a few different stages to this recipe, but each one is quick and easy and can even be prepped ahead over the days before you make the final dish

The important note to make when making the tomato sauce for your Spinach and Vegan Ricotta Cannelloni is to not put the puree in as stated, but to swap it for a splash of water. The reason for this is the dried pasta will suck up the liquid and if the the sauce is too thick already it will all be a bit dry and stodgy

I used a plastic piping bag to squeeze the spinach mix into the tubes - so easy! You could just snip the corner off a plastic food bag though if you wanted, or even just spoon it in

The jury is still out with vegan cheese with some people. I like to add some, more because this is how I remember the original dish to look like, but less is definitely more with vegan cheese so just a sprinkle is enough, if you even bother at all with it

If you have any leftover Spinach and Vegan Ricotta Cannelloni left, pop it in a tub and freeze it in portion sizes, makes a great warm up in the microwave for a quick lunch

Ingredients

396g pack of firm tofu

1 peeled and finely crushed garlic clove

1tbsp lemon juice

2 tbsp olive oil

3 tbsp nutritional yeast

1/2 tsp salt

Double the quantity of this sauce. Important to note though, sub the puree for water (see above)

1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped

1tbsp olive oil

200g frozen spinach, at it's frozen weight

250g dairy free cream (see above)

Salt and black pepper

250g pack dried cannelloni

40g grated vegan cheese (optional)

Method

Defrost the spinach, either in the microwave or at room temperature. When it is defrosted, give it a good squeeze to get rid of most of the water

Next, start making the "Ricotta". Drain the tofu and wrap in a clean teatowel and give a gentle squeeze to get rid of most of the liquid. Break into pieces and put into the food processor along with all the other Ricotta ingredients. Pulse until forms a textured paste. Remove from the processor and put in a tub in the fridge for now

Make the tomato sauce using this recipe. It's really important not to add the puree but to put a little water in instead (see above)

Set your oven to 190C

Put the olive oil into a pan and gently cook the chopped onion. Cook for around 7 minutes, they should be soft and translucent. Remove from the heat and add the squeezed spinach, the salt and pepper, and the cream. Finally stir in your ricotta

Add a smear of the tomato sauce to the bottom of your baking dish, this is to stop the tubes from sticking

Generously fill your cannelloni tubes (see above). Place them in the baking dish on top of the smear of sauce. Don't waste any excess spinach mixture, just squirt it around the gaps of your cannelloni

Cover with with rest of your tomato sauce, and then add your grated cheese on top. Bake for 30-40 minutes. The sauce should be bubbling and the pasta tender

Serve and enjoy!

Debbie