Imagine coming home to this Spinach and Ricotta Cannelloni…… a juicy spinach and ricotta filling inside cannelloni pasta tubes, topped with a homemade tomato basil sauce and melted cheese. After you’ve made this, try Beef and Spinach Cannelloni. It’s so good!
This is a reader-favourite recipe included by popular demand in my debut cookbook “Dinner”!
Spinach and Ricotta Cannelloni
This is one of my go-to freezer meals I make to give to friends, and a great one to make for dinners to cater for both carnivores and vegetarians.
I make it often throughout most of the year, except perhaps at the very height of summer. Yes, I love cannelloni that much!
What is cannelloni??
Cannelloni is a tube shaped dry pasta about 7 cm / 3″ long and 2cm / 2/3″ wide. It is stuffed with filling, covered in a sauce and cheese then baked. It does not need to be cooked before filling, it softens when baked in the oven.
The most common variety is a spinach and ricotta filling topped with a tomato sauce which is the version I am sharing today.
What’s the difference between cannelloni and manicotti?
Manicotti is also a dry paste tube. It’s the Italian-American version of cannelloni. The difference is that manicotti is larger with ridges, whereas cannelloni is smooth.
The spinach and ricotta filling in this recipe fills 18 – 22 cannelloni tubes, or 10 – 12 manicotti tubes.
There are two ways to make cannelloni:
stuffing dry pasta tubes
rolling the filling up in fresh lasagna sheets
I like using the tubes – partly because they are more cost effective. And also because I like the size – a better filling to pasta/sauce/cheese ratio. Lasagna sheets are thicker and you need a double layer where the sheets overlap to seal in the filling and inevitably, the cannellonis end up bigger.
Easiest way to fill cannelloni tubes
And I know what many of you are thinking – stuffing the tubes is a pain.
After many years of using knives / thin spoons / combination of those + the end of wooden spoons and I finally accepted the inevitable fact:
The fastest way to fill the tubes is with a piping bag.
7 seconds per tube x 20 tubes = 2.3 minutes. (Watch the video!)
The Spinach and Ricotta Filling
The Spinach and Ricotta Filling is creamy, has the perfect spinach to ricotta ratio, and made extra tasty with the addition of parmesan and cheese. It’s so good, I can eat spoonfuls of it straight out of the bowl!
Here’s what’s in it:
Spinach – use frozen for convenience (thaw, remove excess water before using), or fresh if you’ve got an abundance of it;
Ricotta – be sure to use a food quality full fat, creamy one. (Tip: avoid Perfect Italiano tub, it’s quite powdery and unpleasant)
Shredded cheese – a flavoured one is best, like cheddar, tasty. Save the mozzarella for the topping.
Parmesan – don’t skip this! It adds extra savouriness and seasoning to the filling. Just store bought finely shredded or grated is fine, or grate your own.
Garlic – because it makes everything better
Egg – for binding (can be skipped)
Nutmeg – optional, but it’s a lovely touch. I use it in almost all my spinach ricotta fillings.
Salt and pepper
This is my standard recipe that is virtually identical (if not identical) to what I use for all things spinach and ricotta, from this Spinach and Ricotta Pasta Bake, to Puff Pasty Puffs, Rotolo (it’s like upright cannelloni – and it’s amazing!), to Spinach Ricotta Rolls.
Can you freeze spinach and ricotta filling?
YES, it’s perfectly fine to freeze. If using to stuff something, then thaw, give it a good mix then use per recipe. If it’s already prepared, like Cannelloni, it can even be cooked from frozen.
I freeze cannelloni more often than cooking it fresh!
Sauce for Cannelloni
Cannelloni has to be smothered generously with sauce to ensure there’s enough liquid for the dry pasta tubes to absorb and cook in the oven, and there is still sauce when serving it up. The most common sauce is a tomato pasta sauce which is what I use.
There are recipes “out there” that say to just use plain canned tomatoes or tomato passata for the topping (or bottled pasta sauce).
I really, REALLY think that if you’re making the effort to making cannelloni, it is a no brainer to make a tiny extra effort to make a simple pasta sauce. It is honestly so much better than using plain canned tomato or a store bought pasta sauce!
Option: Load up on extra spinach
You can double the spinach in this, if you want. It can take it, plus you will use up an entire box of cannelloni tubes. They come in boxes of 30 here in Australia, and it is kind of annoying to end up with 10 or so floating around in the pantry, which then motivates me to make another batch just to use them up, then I end up with more tubes leftover so I have to make another batch.
Serve Cannelloni with a simple garden salad tossed with Italian Dressing. For a blow-out Italian feast, add a side of Garlic Bread, or a quick Cheesy Garlic Bread! – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
This recipe features in my debut cookbook Dinner. The book is mostly new recipes, but this is a reader favourite included by popular demand!
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Spinach Ricotta Cannelloni
Ingredients
Sauce (you need LOTS!):
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion , finely chopped
- 4 garlic clove , minced
- 1 bay leaf , fresh (sub dried)
- 1/2 tsp each dried thyme and oregano
- 1/3 cup tomato paste
- 800 g / 28 oz canned crushed tomato
- 4 cups vegetable or chicken stock/broth , low sodium
- 1/3 cup Chardonnay or other dry white wine (sub more stock)
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 tsp sugar
- 1/3 tsp black pepper
- 2/3 cup basil leaves , roughly torn (recommended but not critical)
Filling:
- 250 g / 8 oz frozen chopped spinach , thawed (Note 1)
- 500 g / 1 lb ricotta , full fat please (Note 2)
- 1/3 cup parmesan , finely shredded
- 1 cup shredded cheese (Mozzarella, Colby, Cheddar, Tasty, Gruyere, Swiss)
- 1 egg
- 1 large garlic clove , minced
- Grated fresh nutmeg (just a sprinkling) or 1/8 tsp nutmeg powder (optional)
- 3/4 tsp cooking / kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
Cannelloni
- 18 – 22 dried cannelloni tubes (250g pack) or 14 manicotti tubes (8.8 oz) (Note 3)
- 1/3 cup parmesan , finely shredded
- 1 1/4 cups shredded Mozzarella
- More basil and parmesan , for garnish (optional)
Instructions
Sauce:
- Sauté – Heat oil in a small pot over medium high heat. Add garlic, onion, bay leaf, thyme and oregano. Cook for 3 – 4 minutes until the onion is translucent. Add tomato paste and cook for 1 minute.
- Reduce wine – Add wine, increase heat to high and let it simmer rapidly until mostly evaporated (about 2 minutes).
- Simmer – Add tomatoes, stock, sugar, salt and pepper. Stir then simmer on medium low for 20 minutes.
- Blitz – Remove bay leaf then blitz with a stick blender until smooth. Simmer for 1 more minute then remove from the stove
- Basil – Stir in basil then cover to keep warm until required.
Filling:
- Squeeze spinach – Place spinach in a colander and press out most of the liquid (don't need to thoroughly squeeze dry).
- Mix filling – Place Spinach in bowl with remaining Filling ingredients. Mix, taste, adjust salt and pepper to taste (different cheeses have different saltiness).
Assemble & Bake:
- Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F (160°C fan).
- Pan – Choose a baking pan which will comfortably fit about 20 cannelloni – mine is 21 x 26 cm / 8.5 x 10.5".
- Smear – Spread 1 cup of Sauce on the base (stops cannelloni from sliding around).
- Fill tubes – Transfer Filling to a piping bag with a large nozzle (that fits in the tubes), or use a strong ziplock bag. Or do this step using a knife (it's a bit tedious though!). Pipe the filling into the tubes.
- Assemble – Place cannelloni in baking dish. Pour over remaining Sauce, covering all the tubes.
- Bake covered (but naked) – Cover with foil, then bake for 30 minutes.
- Cheese it! Remove foil, scatter over parmesan then mozzarella. Return to oven for 15 minutes until cheese is melted.
- Serve, garnished with extra parmesan and basil if desired.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Life of Dozer
Remember how I shared his current favourite toy – this squeaking emoji? Did I mention his favourite place to gnaw away at it? Smack bang in the middle of the new day bed. He literally plonks himself in the middle.
And please… someone remind me why I got a DARK GREY one??? 🙄
Made this last night. Had to quadruple the recipe- eek!
Changes made: 2 cans of whole tomato + 1- 700 jar of passata.
4 cups chicken and 4 cups mushroom stock in the box.
I had Sicilian sausages which I ground fine and added to fill out the filling + into the sauce.
The sauce, as written, is brilliant. VERY, very tasty.
Nagi, you’re the best. Even if your cookbook doesn’t quite fit into my bookholder- lol.
Much love to dear Dozer. 🙂
T
This is not American cuisine!
I’m guessing that’s why she labelled it “American-Italian”
Great recipe!! Highly recommend. I used ricotta and feta with fresh spinach and lasagna sheets. Wanna try the dried tubes next time.
i used your recipe last night, I followed your instructions step by step (minus the bay-leaves & wine for the homemade sauce — due to not having either of those ingredients on hand ☹️). this meal was so delicious — my (very critical) boyfriend said, “this is perfect!” (WOW!! 😃). there are plenty of leftovers, which we are looking forward to having for lunch today. thank you so much for sharing your incredible recipe — i have bookmarked your page and i can’t wait to dive into your recipe repertoire to discover some more of your delicious creations!
Nagi, your recipes never disappoint!!😁👏🏼 When I told my hubby and kids I was making this they all groaned (I told the hubby he should eat cereal then!🥴) as I’ve made other ones in the past that were so underwhelming! I knew from experience though that you always add more flavour to your recipes than other sites so continued on defiantly.😅 So I didn’t need to blitz the sauce I bought a 700ml passata. I didn’t have the wine but needn’t have worried as the sauce was still delicious! My mozzarella had mould in it 🙄 so only used fresh Parmesan and tasty cheddar. It was amazing-so flavoursome that I had seconds and all the family loved it! This one will be on rotation now! Thank you!!🥰
Absolutely delicious and great joy to make !!!! Thankyou !!!
Delicious!! Using easy to obtain ingredients. I have used so many of your recipes and haven’t had a disappointment yet. Thanks a heap.
So delicious! Best cannelloni recipe I have ever made. Thank you so much for your consistently delicious recipes!
I’ve made this a couple times as written and we love it
Great recipe, I did not add sugar or wine. I used rainbow silverbeet both stems and leaves shredded.
I had a lot of ricotta and a lot of fresh spinach and was looking for a recipe to make when I came upon this one! I did not have all the ingredients to make the sauce and was a little bummed about that, but I had a few jars of pasta sauce. I added some mushrooms, chopped small, to the filling but followed the rest of the recipe. I also used 1 and a half jars of pasta sauce. I did not have any expectations for this but let me tell you this is amazing! I did doctor up the pasta sauce with a pinch of sugar and some wine 😉 and spices. My whole family loved this and let me know that it was ok to make every week! Thanks so much Nagi xo
The flavour of this recipe was absolutely gorgeous, definitely one I will be making again. Using a piping bag made filling the cannelloni so quick and easy. The tomato sauce took much longer to get the right consistency as seen in the video, next time I’d cook it at a higher heat to speed up the process.
I made this gluten free with fresh lasagne sheets. It was beautiful! I have made this many times off different recipies and did not expect it to be any different but the flavours are really lovely
Delicious! Kids loved it, too. It’s already been decided to add it to the meal rotation. Would be perfect for serving when having guests. So so good!!!
Made this for dinner tonight. OMG! It was delish! Hubby was so impressed.
Brilliant recipe. Easy to follow. I prefer filling the tubes by hand if the spinach is fresh – it’s easier to do. Delicious!
Best sauce I’ve ever tasted, the whole meal was excellent, thank you. Definitely making this again.
I made this dish last night. Like Delphia, I struggled to fill the cannelloni as I didn’t have a piping bag and a freezer bag wasn’t up to the job, so I ended up stuffing the filling in with my hands! I also had a bit of an overspill with the nutmeg, but no matter. I reckon it made up for the shortage of fresh basil! No matter, the result was delicious! Probably the best cannelloni dish I’ve ever made (or indeed, eaten). And cheap! I totted up the cost of the ingredients and with salad and or steamed veg you could feed 6 adults for $20. Or one Susan for 2 meals!
Made this tonight and it was delicious… when my husband saw what I was cooking he was not happy but after he tried it he said it was the best he has ever had and loved it
The flavour of this is magnificent but I really struggled with filling the bloody tubes!!! My grandson stepped in & did an amazing job. I’ll use lasagne sheets next time. The quantity was spot on.