This week our Junior Chefs will be making – Spinach and Ricotta Cannelloni

Cannelloni (pronounced [kannelˈloːni]; Italian for “large reeds”) are a cylindrical type of lasagne generally served baked with a filling and covered by a sauce.

This classic filled and baked pasta dish is good at any time of the year, we will be filling cannelloni tubes with a rich filling of ricotta and the ever so popular vegetable spinach, and then will bake with a layer of tomato and white sauce.

Spinach is used all round the world; the leaves are bright green when young, deepening to a darker colour when older. It has a distinct flavour that complements many dishes.

Baby spinach can be eaten raw in salads, whereas older spinach should be cooked but not for long, and will reduce in volume considerably.

Although spinach is now available throughout the year it is best from April through to September.

When buying select spinach with bright green leaves, that are tender and crisp and smell fresh. Avoid leaves that are yellow or wilted.

Loose spinach will need a good rinsing to remove dirt and grit, but drain well.

It can be prepared in a few ways raw in salads. Warmed, in a sauce for (8-10 minutes). Slice and stir fry (1-2 minutes) or steam whole (3-4 minutes).

Ricotta is a cheese that has a fresh, creamy taste and is a wonderful addition to both sweet and savoury dishes, lending luxurious body to sauces, thickening mixtures for baking.  As a fresh Italian cheese, it can be bought ready-made or easily created at home.

As a fresh cheese, ricotta should be used as quickly as possible – however, there are salted, aged version of ricotta found in Italy which keep for longer.

The one thing we do have to remember is to make sure that the sauce we pour over the cannelloni once you have arranged them in the baking dish is somewhat more liquid than what you would normally use for serving on pasta, as it will thicken during baking.

In this week’s dish we will be using the following skills: Weighing, measuring, chopping, crushing, grating, mixing/combining, whisking boiling/simmering/infusing, straining and baking, squeezing, piping.

See you Saturday Junior Chefs.