Ricotta and Spinach Cannelloni
Apologies for not being online all week. It's been a hectic week and I haven't been home much at all. This is a simple vegetarian recipe that I made some time ago. My friend Amy and I also tried to make it more kid friendly by making Ella's cannelloni look like sleeping children, see photo below. It didn't work. Some people just hate spinach!!!! You can make this with a bechamel sauce to keep it white, or use a tomato sauce if you want to add more flavour and colour.
Ingredients:
- 1 box cannelloni
- +- 9oz fresh/frozen spinach *
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1`tbsp olive oil
- 1 large white onion, finely diced
- 3 garlic cloves, finely diced
- 1 90z/250g tub ricotta
- Salt and pepper to season
- Grating nutmeg
- 16 fl. oz Bechamel Sauce or Basic Red Sauce
- 4 oz grated parmesan
Saute the onion in the butter and garlic over a medium heat until soft. Add in the ricotta and chopped spinach. Season with nutmeg, salt and pepper. This is your filling.
Using a small spoon or knife, stuff the cannelloni with the filling. Place in an oven proof dish and top with your sauce of choice. Top with parmesan and bake for 30-40 minutes until cannelloni are cooked through. Enjoy!
To make the sleeping girls, grate parmesan for the hair. Use a sauteed mushroom for the head. Cut out peppers or olives for the feet, faces and bows. Use tomato sauce to make the sheet. This is in Annabel Karmel's book Feeding Your Baby & Toddler. 
Her recipe is a bit different and her sleeping girls look a lot better than ours! The book has some other wonderful ideas on how to make ordinary food more appealing to kids. Enjoy! ;-)
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