Spinach and Cottage Cheese Canneloni
by Tarla Dalal
Spinach and cottage cheese stuffed in tubular pasta or cannelloni covered with oodles of cheese always finds its way in dinner menus! Well made cannelloni cannot be achieved without some effort, but the results are always superb. Basically there are four separate elements : the stuffing, the fresh pasta in which the stuffing is enclosed, the cheese that covers and protects the filled cannelloni as it heats and the sauce. The filling and the sauce can be prepared a day in advance, then assembled just before serving. Ready-made dry pasta sheets can be purchased to shorten the cooking process.
Spinach and Cottage Cheese Canneloni recipe - How to make Spinach and Cottage Cheese Canneloni
Preparation time : Cooking time : Total Time:
Serves 6.
For the cannelloni
1 recipe Fresh Pasta Dough
1 tsp salt and 1 tablespoon oil for cooking the pasta
For the spinach stuffing
3 cups chopped spinach (palak)
1 cup crumbled paneer (cottage cheese)
1/2 tsp chopped green chillies
a pinch of nutmeg (jaiphal) powder
3 tbsp fresh cream
salt to taste
For the white sauce
3 tbsp plain flour (maida)
3 tbsp butter
3 cups milk
salt and black pepper (kalimirch) powder to taste
Other ingredients
2 tbsp grated processed cheese
butter or oil for greasing
- Main Procedure
For the spinach stuffing
- For the spinach stuffing
- Blanch the spinach in boiling water. Refresh in ice-cold water and drain out the water. Keep aside.
- Chop finely and mix with the cottage cheese, green chillies, nutmeg powder, cream and salt. Keep aside.
For the cannelloni
- For the cannelloni
- Prepare the pasta dough as mentioned in the recipe.
- Divide the pasta dough into 6 portions and roll out each portion as thinly as possible.
- Cut each portion of the rolled out dough into a 100 mm. x 150 mm. (4" x 6") rectangle, to make 6 cannelloni sheets.
- Boil plenty of water in a broad pan and add 1 teaspoon of salt and 1 tablespoon of oil.
- Drop the prepared pasta one sheet at a time into the boiling water and cook for 2 minutes.
- Drain and transfer into a bowl of cold water. Drain again and keep aside.
For the white sauce
- For the white sauce
- Heat the butter, add the flour and sauté for 1 minute.
- Slowly pour in the milk, whisking it continuously so that no lumps form. Bring to a boil.
- Add salt and pepper and mix well. Remove from the fire.
How to proceed
- How to proceed
- Fill each cannelloni sheet with 1 tablespoon of the spinach stuffing and roll up.
- Arrange on a greased baking dish, pour the white sauce over the prepared cannelloni and sprinkle grated cheese on top.
- Bake in a pre-heated oven at 200 (400) for 15 minutes.
- Serve hot.
Spinach and cottage cheese stuffed in cannelloni and topped with white sauce and baked to perfection. The fun was making the cannelloni with fresh pasta dough and when baked, the cannelloni cut easily in clean lines.