Baked Spinach + Minced Beef Cannelloni

A friend who I knew from twitter (this is why I love twitter), Yulie, BBM-ed me asking for the roast chicken recipe that I sometimes make. I thought I wanted to blog about it..then I realized I don't have any good pictures of it. And I remembered at least 2 friends (yes from twitter also) asked me for the cannelloni recipe that I twitpic-ed some time ago. Jadi hari ni resipi cannelloni lah ya.

I saw the recipe from Malaysian's Women Weekly i.e the only magazine that I buy nowadays :). The original recipe was Baked Lemon & Spinach Cannelloni but I tweaked it a bit due to unavailability of certain ingredients. I grocery shopping kat Tesco atau Giant je :P

It says prep time 20 minutes, cook 40 minutes, serves 4 to 6. Yeah okay about right.

I'll write out the original recipe as shown in the magazine first then will mention how I did it/my way...

Let's get the ingredients.

2 bunches of spinach, rinsed & chopped

(I usually use organic spinach...ala yang jual kat Giant tu je, macam lambat layu dalam fridge)

(I also used Ramly frozen minced beef, about 3 'squares' of it..sauteed minced shallots & garlic secukup rasa dan masak bersama dengan beef ni..)

400g fresh ricotta

(Malas nak pegi Cold Storage Alamanda, so I just used cheddar cheese, about 3 slices..more if you like)

Finely grated zest of 1 lemon

(I used a few drops of lemon juice instead..the bottled one..that I also used to make my homemade face mask in my earlier entry hahaha :P)

Salt to taste

(A bit of black pepper pun okay kot)

250g packet of cannelloni shells

(jangan lupa ni lah ingredient penting)

400ml jar tomato passata or tomato pasta sauce

(I used Prego pasta sauce)

400g canned crushed tomatoes

(A can of chopped tomatoes)

100g mozzarella cheese, sliced / use shredded pizza cheese if unavailable

(Yes it was unavailable so I used a small packet of shredded mozzarella cheese)

1/4 cup toasted chopped walnuts, to serve

(I totally forgot to get this)

Let's start!

1) Preheat oven at 180〫C. Lightly crease a shallow 8-cup baking dish.

(I didn't understand what an 8-cup baking dish was so as usual, I use one of my trusted 12-year old vision pots..a more shallow one)

2) In a large bowl, combine spinach, ricotta and zest. Season to taste with salt.

(My version - combine cooked minced beef, spinach, cheddar cheese slices yang dikoyak-koyak sikit, a few drops of lemon juice. Garam & black pepper sikit).

3) Fill cannelloni shells evenly with spinach mixture using teaspoon.

(Using a teaspoon was not that easy okay..luckily I always have those disposable plastic gloves. Sarung & guna je tangan untuk menyumbat cannelloni shells dengan bahan-bahan di atas).

4) Pour 1 cup combined passata and crushed tomato into the baking dish.

(This is the pasta sauce and canned chopped tomatoes..separuh2 tau)

5) Arrange filled shells on top. Pour remaining sauce over.

(sebab tu I sebut separuh2 tadi..)

(there were actually more cannelloni shells..tengok la berapa banyak boleh dapat dengan filling nya tu)

6) Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes in the prepared oven.

(I was out of foil so tutup dengan Visions pot cover, tapi menyenget sikit supaya tak tutup penuh..kenapa I buat macam tu pun I tak pasti)

7) Remove foil and top with cheese. Baked uncovered for 6 to 8 minutes or until cheese melts. Serve warm topped with walnuts for an extra crunch.

(Must remember those nuts next time)

Senang je kan? My husband and the boys loved this.

Happy trying & bon appetit!