Courgette Cannelloni

Prep Time:

30 minutes

Cooking Time:

30 minutes

Ingredients

  • 3 courgettes
  • 250g ricotta cheese
  • 150g spinach
  • 6 large tomatoes
  • 1 clove garlic, crushed
  • handful of basil
  • 150g grated cheese for topping (cheddar/mozzarella/parmesan)
courgette cannelloni

A fresh take on cannelloni, with a fresh tomato sauce and courgette in place of pasta, it’s a light and delicious dinner to share with friends alfresco. Great for those looking for alternatives for wheat too.

Benefits

Colourful veg provide us with fibre and phytonutrients to support digestion and overall health. Replacing pasta with courgettes makes this dish gluten free.

Method

  • Preheat oven to 200 deg C/ 390 deg F

  • Roughly chop the tomatoes and add to a saucepan with a little oil and 1 clove of crushed garlic, allow to simmer without a lid for 20 minutes, before adding salt and pepper. Once cooked, blend the sauce till smooth.

  • Peel the courgettes into lengths and any leftover courgette cores can be chopped into fine cubes and added to the tomato sauce.

  • Pour a kettle of boiling water over the spinach and submerge until wilted, then strain and squeeze out the liquid.

  • In a bowl mix the spinach and ricotta and season with salt and pepper.

  • Overlap 4 strips of courgette on a board, place a heaped desert spoon of the spinach ricotta mix, and roll into tube. Repeat until all the courgettes have been rolled.

  • In an ovenproof dish approx 23cm x 20 cm cover base with tomato sauce, nestle the cannelloni in snuggly and drizzle with olive oil. Top with grated cheese and cook in the oven for 30 minutes, or until bubbling and lightly browned.