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I have over a couple dozen casserole recipes on the website 💻. Although there are delicious ones to choose from like Lancashire Hotpot, Chicken Vesuvio,Cod au Gratin, Mediterranean Eggplant Casserole, I often go with a pasta dish.
One that I enjoy serving often is my Italian Sausage, Spinach & Ricotta Cannelloni! Visually gorgeous 😍, this tasty pasta dish is very easy to make. It has a delicious combination of creamy texture and savory flavor with a rich, tangy background from the Bolognese sauce.
As the title suggests, I have spinach and Italian sausage in it. I start by wilting my spinach first, and then when this step is done and the leaves are cool enough to handle, I remove the moisture by squeezing them 🍃 before chopping into small pieces.
From here, I move on to the pork 🐖. I use hot Italian sausage and I highly suggest not using the mild one. The mixture is pretty cheesy and there’s also a creamy Alfredo sauce in this recipe, therefore, it needs another “strong” flavor otherwise, the dish will be flat.
After cooking the meat and seasoning 🥫 with my Italian blend, I drain the excess fat and let it cool off a little before adding it to my cheese mixture, which is a gorgeous blend of ricotta, Mozzarella, and Parmesan cheese.
When the filling is done, it’s time to fill up the cannelloni…
I mention in the video that I bought a box of this pasta that says “oven ready” on the package. Normally, I soak the tubes in hot water 💦 before stuffing them but I didn’t have to this time. If yours are not “oven ready” like mine, I suggest watching how I do the soaking method when I stuff my manicotti… Meat Manicotti.
Stuffing these little guys is pretty easy. The cheese mixture is spooned into a piping bag (a regular Ziplock plastic bag is fine too), then squeezed tight to remove any air bubbles, which is very important to do, and cut off 🔪 the tip, slightly smaller than the tubes.
One of my girlfriends 👩🦱 gave me a very cool trick… Place the cannelloni upright in a measuring cup or another container tall enough, and simply stuff them. It makes this task go much faster when making this Italian Sausage, Spinach & Ricotta Cannelloni recipe.
When stuffed, they’re placed in a lightly greased 9 ½ x 9 ½-inch baking dish with the bottom thinly covered 🥄 with Bolognese sauce, which will prevent the pasta from sticking. The size of this baking dish will hold 18 cannelloni.
When I don’t serve this for guests and it’s just casual, I don’t use this baking dish. Instead, I use a 9×13-inch which will hold 20 to 22 cannelloni. This is how many stuffed cannelloni it makes. Of course, as a food blogger, I use the square one for a beautiful presentation when I film and take pictures 📸!
If you stick to the picture-perfect looking dish and want that outstanding visual effect, both Alfredo and Bolognese are spooned onto each half of the cannelloni, trying to make the separation as flawless as possible. As if there weren’t enough cheese 🧀, more Parmesan is sprinkled on top.
I’m okay with Alfredo sauce but I find it very rich on its own. What I did years ago was to split the sauce between Alfredo and Bolognese. It creates a rich, creamy mixture blended with a savory and robust flavor from the tomato 🍅. It gives the sauce a luxurious, balanced profile.
The dish is covered with foil and baked for 45 minutes ⏰. By covering it, it keeps the pasta moist and prevents it from drying out. Another important factor is to make sure that all the tubes are entirely covered with sauce.
When time is up, the dish is uncovered and baked for an additional 5 minutes ⏳ or until the sauces are bubbly and the pasta is cooked. To find out if the cannelloni are ready, use a pointy knife to gently pierce the tubes. If it goes in easily, they’re done!
It’s important to allow the dish to rest for 10 minutes before adding the chopped parsley in a couple straight lines, as shown on the picture and video 🎥. I did that extra cute step to recreate the colors of the Italian flag.
Colorful and delicious, this Italian Sausage, Spinach & Ricotta Cannelloni is a nice, rustic Italian dish to serve when entertaining! It’s a lovely meal to prepare in advance, making it ideal for feeding a large group without stressing out 🥰. Plus, who doesn’t like this comfort food!
Bon Appétit! 🍽
Check out these other great BBQ & grilling recipes… 😀
– Duck Ragù with Pappardelle
– Meat Lasagna
– Lady Athena’s Rockin’ Crab Shell Pasta
– Pasta alla Caponata
– Shrimp Fra Diavolo
– Spaghetti Aglio e Olio
– Italian Gnocchi Casserole
– Creamy Tortellini Boscaiola
– Baked Ziti
and for even more pasta recipes 🍝, click on this link… Recipe Category • Pasta & Pizza
For ingredient amounts, directions, and much more, visit ➡ https://clubfoody.com/italian-sausage-spinach-ricotta-cannelloni/
😉
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