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Spinach & Ricotta Rotolo

Spinach & Ricotta Rotolo

Rotolo is a lesser known Italian pasta dish with this version being similar to the popular cannelloni. The filling is rolled up in pasta sheets, cut and placed into the pasta sauce then baked in the oven to get delicious crunchy bits.
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Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Servings 4 serves

Ingredients
 

  • 8 fresh lasagne sheets, 15cm/6" x 11cm/4.5"
  • 1/2 cup Mozarella cheese, grated
  • Parmesan cheese, freshly grated, for serving (optional)

Filling

  • 250 g spinach, frozen pre chopped
  • 700 g ricotta cheese
  • 2 Eggs
  • 2/3 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
  • 3 garlic cloves, crushed
  • pinch nutmeg powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • black pepper

Tomato Sauce

  • 700 ml passata sauce, (also known as tomato puree)
  • 1 brown onion, diced
  • 4 cloves garlic, crushed
  • handful basil leaves, (optional)
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • black pepper

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius.

Tomato Sauce

  • In a medium sized saucepan, add the olive oil, onion and garlic. Saute until tender. Add the tomatoes and chopped basil leaves. Simmer for 10 minutes and then season with salt and pepper to taste.
  • In a 22cm x 17cm ovenproof pan add all tomato sauce except for 3/4 cup which will be used to drizzle over the dish at the end.

Filling

  • Defrost the spinach in the microwave on high for 2 minutes.
  • Squeeze all the excess water out of the spinach using your hands, then place in a large bowl.
  • Add remaining Filling ingredients and mix well to combine.

Assembling

  • Take your lasagne sheet and chop in half across the longest length.
  • Take one piece and fill with approximately 3 tablespoons of filling across the longest length. Roll up starting from the end closest to you. Finish with the seal down.
  • Continue with remaining lasagne sheets.
  • Cut rolls into 3 (so each piece is 3.5 - 5cm (1.5 - 2") wide.
  • Place the rolls into the tomato sauce with the filling facing up.
  • Drizzle the reserved sauce over the rotolo and in particular between as many of the rolls as you can. Bake for 20 minutes.
  • Remove from oven and scatter the mozzarella over. Return to oven for 10 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly and golden.
  • Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

Notes

  • This is a fiddly meal to make but worth the effort as tastes wonderful.
  • Serve with garlic bread, garden salad or have just as it is without anything else!
  • If you don't have passata (tomato puree) available, use instead 2 x 400g tins of chopped tomatoes and 1/2 cup of water.