Spinach Cannelloni

Spinach and Ricotta Cannelloni

Tomato Sauce with Wine:
Olive oil or butter (about 2 tablespoons)
1 onion
2 carrots
1 red peppers
4 cloves garlic
4 tablespoons tomato paste
2 cans tomatoes
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 cups white wine
Salt and pepper

Cannelloni:
Instant cannelloni
2 tablespoons butter
2 cloves garlic
About 1 tablespoon dried oregano (or fresh if you have it)
1 large bunch spinach (about 400 grams)
400 grams ricotta cheese
30 grams parmesan cheese
1-2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

White Sauce:
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
2 cups milk
Salt and pepper
30 grams parmesan cheese

First, make the tomato sauce because it needs to simmer for a good long time. Dice all of the vegetables up fine and crush the garlic. Heat the oil in a large pot and throw everything in. Let it simmer for a half hour or so, until it's thick. Then you can either leave it chunky or blend it until it's smooth. Take a large lasagna dish or square casserole dish and place a thick layer of sauce in the bottom.

Prepare the cannelloni. Begin by heating the butter in a large pan. Crush the garlic and stir it about in the butter quickly along with the oregano, then begin to add the spinach. If you have large spinach leaves you might want to rip them up as you add them, but if you have baby spinach it's not necessary. Fill the pan with spinach and stir it about until it is wilted and reduced in size, then add more and more spinach until it is all in there. Remove it from the pan and place it in a bowl with the ricotta cheese. Grate the parmesan over top, sprinkle on the salt and pepper and mix it up well. Then use a teaspoon (or your hands) to stuff the cannelloni tubes full of the spinach mixture. Place the stuffed cannelloni tubes on top of the tomato sauce.

Make the white sauce. In a medium sized pot, melt the butter and then stir the flour into it until it is a thick paste. Keep stirring this over medium heat for a couple of minutes, then begin to add the milk a little bit at a time. Every time after you add the milk you need to stir it into the paste so that there are no lumps. Taste it and then season it with salt and pepper. Then grate the cheese into the sauce and stir it in.

Pour the cheese sauce over the cannelloni, sprinkle more parmesan over the top and bake until the cannelloni is cooked. If you put a skewer or fork into the middle of the dish it should easily slide through the cannolloni.