Roasted Butternut Squash Ricotta Spinach Cannelloni Food

SQUASH AND RICOTTA PASTA BAKE

Steps:

• Preheat your oven to 200°C/400°F/gas 6. Place the squash on a baking tray, drizzle with olive oil and pop in the hot oven for around 15 minutes, or until tender.
• Pour a couple of lugs of olive oil into a large frying pan, add the garlic and basil stalks and fry for a couple of minutes. Add your tomatoes to the pan, breaking them up with a wooden spoon and bring to the boil. Drop in the roasted squash, bring to the boil, then simmer for 10 minutes.
• Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to the boil, add the penne and cook for a couple of minutes less than it says on the packet. Drain, then toss with the sauce.
• Tear up the basil leaves and sprinkle into the pan with some salt and pepper. Stir in the ricotta and the stock, then bring back to the boil.
• Rub a large baking tray, ovenproof pan or earthenware dish with olive oil and spoon in all the pasta and sauce. Tear over the ball of mozzarella and top with the Parmesan. Rub the sage leaves with a little olive oil and put on top.
• Pop it into the preheated oven and bake for 15 minutes or until golden and bubbling. Serve with a crisp green salad.
• Tip: If you're a chilli freak like me, try adding a chopped fresh chilli to your tomato sauce.

ROASTED SQUASH, SHALLOT, SPINACH & RICOTTA PASTA

Steps:

• Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Tip the squash and shallots into a large roasting dish. Toss in the oil, season and roast for 40 mins, stirring once.
• Meanwhile, cook the pasta following pack instructions, reserving a few tbsp of cooking water. Place the spinach in a large colander and pour over boiling water to wilt. Allow to cool a little, then squeeze out as much excess water as possible. Pop into a bowl with two-thirds of the ricotta, the sage, lemon juice and zest, nutmeg and seasoning, then stir.
• Next, tip the ricotta mixture into the hot drained pasta. Stir, adding a few tbsp of the cooking liquid. Mix most of the roasted veg with the pasta. Divide into bowls and dot with the remaining ricotta and scatter over any final bits of veg.

ROASTED BUTTERNUT SQUASH

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Place the squash on a sheet pan and drizzle with the olive oil, salt, and pepper and toss well. Arrange the squash in one layer and roast for 25 to 30 minutes, until the squash is tender, turning once with a metal spatula.

BUTTERNUT SQUASH, SAGE & WALNUT HONEYCOMB CANNELLONI

Steps:

• Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Toss the diced squash on a baking tray with 2 tbsp of the oil. Roast in the oven for 20-25 mins until the squash is tender and browning. Put the bigger chunks in a microwave-proof bowl with about 200ml water. Cover with cling film, pierce a couple of times, and microwave on High for 10-14 mins until really soft. Drain off the water and leave to cool a bit.
• Meanwhile, put the remaining oil in a frying pan with the onions, sage and garlic, and cook gently until softened. Set aside to cool.
• Mash the microwaved squash, or whizz in a food processor, then mix with the ricotta until smooth. Season well and taste - it may need a little sugar to bring out the sweetness of the squash. Stir in the onion mixture and walnuts, then gently stir in the roasted squash, being careful not to break it up. Spoon into a disposable piping bag and snip off the end to a width that will just fit inside one of your cannelloni tubes.
• Whisk the mascarpone with the milk, a generous grating of nutmeg, the Parmesan and plenty of seasoning (especially salt) until smooth. Spread just over half the sauce into a big ovenproof dish.
• Prepare the pasta in small batches (because it's easier to fill the tubes when warm). Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil. Add a few tubes at a time and boil for 2 mins, stirring occasionally so they don't stick. Lift out with a slotted spoon and cool under cold water just until you can handle them. Use scissors to snip each tube in half, pipe the squash filling into each tube and stand upright, snuggled together, in your dish. Keep repeating the process (boiling tubes, halving, then filling), until all the ingredients are used up.
• Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6 (if it's not already on). Drizzle the remaining mascarpone sauce all over the pasta tubes, scatter with extra sage leaves, a few more walnuts and some Parmesan. Bake for 30 mins until the top is crisp, the sauce bubbling and pasta softened.

RICOTTA & SPINACH CANNELLONI

Steps:

• Mix the first 5 ingredients together.
• Preheat your oven to about 180d C.
• Place about 1/3rd cup of filling into the centre of each pasta sheet and roll into a cylinder.
• When all sheets are filled place a cup of the sauce on the bottom of a 9 x 12 inch pan and then lay the cannelloni's on top of it.
• After all have been assembled spread the remaining sauce on top then sprinkle with remaining cheese.
• Bake about 30 mins until they are bubbling and golden then let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

SQUASH, SAGE, AND RICOTTA CANNELLONI

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly oil a 2-quart or 8-inch square baking dish. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta until al dente. Using tongs, transfer pasta to a lightly oiled rimmed baking sheet. Add squash to boiling water and cook until tender, about 10 minutes. Drain squash and transfer to a bowl.
• In a small skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium. Add shallots, season with salt and pepper, and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Transfer to bowl with squash and add 2 tablespoons milk, chopped sage, and nutmeg; season with salt and pepper. Mash with a fork until a rough puree forms.
• Spread 1/4 cup squash mixture crosswise down the middle of each lasagna noodle; roll up noodle and place, seam side down, in baking dish. In a bowl, combine ricotta, 1/2 cup Parmesan, and 1/4 cup milk and season with salt and pepper. Spread ricotta mixture over cannelloni and top with cup Parmesan. Bake until warmed through, about 25 minutes. Broil until top is browned, 2 to 3 minutes.
• Meanwhile, in a small skillet, heat 2 tablespoons oil over medium-high. Fry whole sage leaves until crispy, 15 to 20 seconds. Drain on paper towels. Serve cannelloni topped with fried sage.

BUTTERNUT SQUASH CANNELLONI WITH SAGE-WALNUT CREAM SAUCE

Steps:

• To make filling, heat 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet with sides over medium heat. Add onion; cook until it begins to soften, about 3 minutes. Add squash cubes; cook, stirring occasionally, until they begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Add cinnamon, nutmeg, cayenne pepper, cumin, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, and 1 cup water. Reduce heat, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until very tender, about 20 minutes.
• Mash mixture with potato masher or wooden spoon, and transfer to a medium bowl to cool. When cool, stir in Parmesan and ricotta. Set aside in refrigerator until ready to assemble.
• Wash the spinach or greens well. Remove and discard stems. Roughly chop spinach into smaller pieces. Heat remaining tablespoon butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add spinach a little at a time; cook, tossing, until wilted and any liquid has evaporated. Season with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Refrigerate until ready to assemble.
• Heat oven to 375 degrees. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the olive oil and remaining tablespoon coarse salt. One at a time, add pasta sheets to boiling water, and cook until al dente, 2 to 3 minutes less than manufacturer's instructions. Remove the pasta sheets with tongs, and drain them in a colander.
• To assemble the cannelloni, lay out the pasta sheets on work surface. Spoon about 1/2 cup filling down the center of a sheet, and top with a heaping tablespoon of spinach. Brush one long side of pasta with water, roll up, starting with other long side, and seal. Repeat with the remaining pasta and filling. Spread half of the sage-walnut cream sauce in the bottom of a 9-by-13-by-2-inch baking dish. Place the cannelloni in the bottom of the dish, and cover with remaining sauce. Garnish with a few sage leaves. Bake until top starts to brown and filling is bubbling, about 30 minutes. Serve.

SPINACH & RICOTTA CANNELLONI

Steps:

• First make the tomato sauce. Heat the oil in a large pan and fry the garlic for 1 min. Add the sugar, vinegar, tomatoes and some seasoning and simmer for 20 mins, stirring occasionally, until thick. Add the basil and divide the sauce between 2 or more shallow ovenproof dishes (see Tips for freezing, below). Set aside. Make a sauce by beating the mascarpone with the milk until smooth, season, then set aside.
• Put the spinach in a large colander and pour over a kettle of boiling water to wilt it (you may need to do this in batches). When cool enough to handle squeeze out the excess water. Roughly chop the spinach and mix in a large bowl with 100g Parmesan and ricotta. Season well with salt, pepper and the nutmeg.
• Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Using a piping bag or plastic food bag with the corner snipped off, squeeze the filling into the cannelloni tubes. Lay the tubes, side by side, on top of the tomato sauce and spoon over the mascarpone sauce. Top with Parmesan and mozzarella. You can now freeze the cannelloni, uncooked, or you can cook it first and then freeze. Bake for 30-35 mins until golden and bubbling. Remove from oven and let stand for 5 mins before serving.