Rotolo di spinaci - spinach and ricotta lasagne roll-ups

Serves: 6

If they like it, it serves 6 otherwise

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 50 minutes

Totaltime: 1 hour 5 minutes

Pasta sheets are covered with a spinach and ricotta filling, rolled up in a clean tea towel and gently boiled then baked in tomato sauce. The pasta sheets and tomato sauce can be purchased already prepared. You can vary the fillings by using mushrooms or eggplant.

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 qt Marinara sauce
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
400g (12 cups) spinach
375g (13oz) ricotta
1 whole nutmeg, to grate
6 fresh lasagne sheets
28g (1 oz) pack fresh basil, leaves picked and chopped

Preparation

Heat the oil in a large pan. Add the onion and garlic and cook for 5 minutes until softened.
Add the marinara and balsamic vinegar and simmer for 20 minutes, until thickened.
2 Meanwhile, heat a large pan over a medium heat. Wash the spinach, then add to the pan and wilt. Place in a sieve over a bowl to get rid of excess water then, once cooled, pat dry with paper towel and roughly chop. Add to the ricotta with a pinch of freshly-grated nutmeg and season to taste.
3 Place a generous teaspoon of the ricotta mixture on a slice of lasagne sheet and spread evenly.
Roll up the rotolo, using the tea towel to help. Start off with your hands to get a nice tight roll, then lift up the towel from the bottom and roll the pasta all the way up into a tight log
Wrap the log up tightly in the tea towel and use string to tie each end. Cook the rotolo in a large pan of salted boiling water for 15 minutes.

Carefully remove the tea towel then slice the rotolo into 6–8 even slices.
Once the tomato sauce has thickened to a good consistency, stir through most of the basil, reserving some to garnish. Pour he sauce into the base of a roughly 21 x 21 cm (9-inch square) baking dish and place the lasagne roll-ups in the dish, so they are stood up. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until lightly golden. Garnish with the remaining basil and serve.