Baked Pumpkin, Spinach and Ricotta Cannelloni
Ingredients
Tomato Sauce
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 1 brown onion
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 zucchini
- 2 cans diced tomatoes
- 3 twigs fresh thyme or a tablespoon of dried thyme
- 1 tbsp ground sweet paprika
- 1 tbsp dried oregano
- salt and pepper to taste
Cannelloni
- 1/2 pumpkin (approx. 400gram)
- 2 cups ricotta
- 1.5 cups fresh spinach
- 1 tbsp cumin
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- salt and pepper
- 1 packet cannelloni tubes
Instructions
Tomato Sauce
- In a saucepan add a generous drizzle of olive oil, 1 finely diced brown onion and 2 cloves of crushed garlic. Keep on a low heat and slowly cook until slightly golden. Stir intermittently. The idea here is to sweat the onions to release its natural sweetness.
- Add to the saucepan 1 finely diced zucchini. Let it cook for 10 minutes then add 2 tins of diced tomatoes, 3 twigs of fresh thyme (or a tablespoon of dried thyme), 1 tablespoon of ground sweet paprika, a tablespoon of dried oregano and a pinch of salt and pepper.
- Let it cook on low for at-least 45 minutes (the longer the better).
Cannelloni
- Bake half a pumpkin in the oven at 150 degrees Celsius for 1.5 hours (again the longer the better to ensure the pumpkin is loaded with flavour).
- In a mixing bowl add 2 cups of ricotta, 1.5 cups of chopped fresh spinach, 5 cups of the baked pumpkin, 1 tablespoon of cumin, a pinch of salt and pepper and a small amount of lemon rind.
- Mix the mixture and fill into the cannelloni tubes.
- Place a small amount of the tomato sauce on the bottom of your baking dish. Then place your filled cannelloni tubes on-top. Pour the remaining sauce (it might be less) on-top of the tubes. Cover with aluminium foil and bake for 1.5 hours at 180 degrees celsius.