A delicious Italian-style veggie main – make ahead and freeze
Ingredients
For the tomato sauce
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 3 garlic cloves, finely sliced
- pinch golden caster sugar
- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 2 x 400g cans chopped tomato
For the filling
- 500g spinach, washed
- 300g soft rindless goat's cheese
- 100g parmesan (or vegetarian alternative), finely grated
- pinch grated nutmeg
- 200g dried cannelloni tubes
- 1 ball mozzarella, sliced
Method
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First make the tomato sauce. Heat the oil in a shallow pan, then fry the garlic for 1 min until fragrant. Add the sugar, vinegar and oregano. Simmer for a moment, then tip in the tomatoes and season. Simmer sauce for 20 mins, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes have cooked down to a thick sauce. Turn off heat and set aside.
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Heat oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Put the spinach in a large colander, then pour over a kettle of hot water to wilt it (you may need to do this twice). Pour over cold water to cool it down. Squeeze the spinach, then place it in a clean tea towel and wring out the water really well.
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Tip the spinach into a food processor and pulse to chop, then crumble in the goat’s cheese and half the Parmesan. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg, then blitz until everything is finely chopped. Using a piping bag, or a plastic food bag with the corner cut off, squeeze the mix into the cannelloni tubes, then lay them, side by side, in a baking dish. Pour over the tomato sauce and top with the mozzarella and remaining Parmesan. The cannelloni can now be frozen for up to 1 month – defrost completely before cooking. Bake for 25-30 mins until golden and bubbling, then remove and leave to stand for 5 mins. Serve from the dish.