Discover the Joy of Festive Cooking: "The Italian Christmas Cookbook" is Now Available on Amazon!Buy on Amazon
The Spinach and Ricotta Roll consists of a rolled sheet of Fresh Egg Pasta with a creamy cheese filling, all enriched with Tomato Sauce. You’ll need some time and patience to bake this dish but the result will be totally worth it. You can even customize the filling as you like with either vegetables, meat or other sauces (or even pesto) but if you want to follow the Italian traditional recipe to the letter you should stick to spinach and (ricotta) cheese.
This recipe it’s like a combination of lasagna and other fantastic flavors of Italy resulting in yummy portion-sized rolls ready to be served. As always with dishes like this, you can preparare your rolls in advance and pop them in the oven just before serving: an amazing solution for a dinner during any night of the week.
You can make you lasagna / noodle sheets 100% homemade following our recipe or you can buy them at the store.
Ingredients
Copy Ingredients
Instructions
To prepare the Spinach and Ricotta Rolls begin by preparing the egg pasta by arranging the flour in a well. Break the eggs into the center and start gently mixing with a fork, incorporating the flour little by little. When the eggs have blended, start kneading by hand for about ten minutes to form a smooth, homogeneous dough ball. Wrap it in plastic wrap and let it rest for 30 minutes.
Now go on to prepare the filling, placing the spinach in the pan without adding seasonings. Close with a lid and let them wilt for a couple of minutes over low heat. Then remove the lid and allow the excess water to evaporate. In the same pan, add the butter, finely minced garlic and adjust the salt. Let it season for 5 minutes. When the spinach has cooled, add it to the ricotta and parmesan cheese. Adjust the salt and add a pinch of nutmeg to taste.
Now prepare the sauce by browning oil and garlic in a pan, then add the crushed tomatoes. Adjust salt and cook 15 minutes, until slightly thickened.
Now roll out the egg dough with a rolling pin to form a single large rectangle one millimeter (maximum two) thick. Spread the filling over the entire surface (keeping a couple of cm away from the edge). Roll it up tightly and wrap it in a clean tea towel, close it with twine on both ends and boil for 30 minutes in plenty of salted water.
Transfer the tomato sauce to an ovenproof dish suitable for baking and, when the ricotta and spinach roll is ready, let it cool before cutting out slices 3-4 cm thick. Lay them in the baking dish and gratin them in the oven for 15-20 minutes at 400ºF, sprinkling them with a little bit of parmesan cheese just before finishing cooking. Once cooked and golden brown, serve the Spinach Roll piping hot.
