Pumpkin, spinach and ricotta cannelloni

This is a very substantial meal with a nice salad on the side and serves 6 generously.  Believe it or not is it is also low in fat and calories!  12g fat and 340 cals per serve. Amazing! You may need to make this in two dishes..depending on how big your dishes are.

600g pumpkin peeled and chopped into chunks

1/2 onion finely chopped

1 garlic clove crushed

2 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes

pinch of chilli powder

250ml passata (sieved tomatoes)

1/2 tsp sugar

1 veg stock cube or 1 tsp stock powder

1 tablespoon tomato puree

250g frozen spinach, thawed and excess liquid removed

375g fresh low fat ricotta

pinch ground nutmeg

200g instant dried cannelloni tubes

100g grated mozzarella

Place the pumpkin in a saucepan and cover with cold water.  Bring it to the boil and then simmer for 10-15 mins or until tender. Drain and then mash.  Put in a large bowl and allow to cool slightly.

Spray a pan with oil and add the onion and garlic. Put on the lid and let the onion and garlic soften on a low heat for 5 mins. 

Then add the tinned tomatoes, chilli, sugar, stock cube/powder, passata and tomato puree and season to taste with salt and pepper.  Let is simmer for 5 mins and then taste it and adjust seasoning if needed.

Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees (fan assisted).

Add the spinach and ricotta to the mashed pumkin and season with nutmeg, salt and pepper – mix well.

Spread the bottom of your dish(es) with a few ladlefuls of the tomato sauce.

Now fill the cannelloni tubes with the pumpkin mixture.  This is a little bit messy!  The easiest way I find is to use a knife to push it down or you can using an icing syringe.  Lay the tubes side by side in the dish in a single layer.

Once you have filled all the tubes (it should be the whole box), cover with the remaining tomato sauce.

Sprinkle the cheese over the top and bake in the oven for 40 mins until golden.

* I haven’t tried this yet but I think that it would work really well with lasagne sheets instead of cannelloni tubes and would save a lot of time :0)

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