Canelons d'espinacs a la catalana
Ingredients
- Cannelloni pasta (handmade, no need to pre-cook; shop bought/dry pasta, boil first)
- 1/2kg fresh spinach
- 3 cloves of garlic (1 is enough, but can do more to taste)
- 150g pine nuts (half of this is plenty)
- Ingredients to make Béchamel (approx 50g butter, 50g flour, 1/2l milk)
- Nutmeg
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Cheese to "gratinar"
Method
- Cook cannelloni pasta if needed, or prep dough and let rest.
- Wash spinach leaves and leave to drain well.
- Put a glug of olive oil in a deep frying pan and when hot, add the roughly sliced garlic clove(s).
- After a couple of minutes, add the pine nuts and lightly brown.
- When the pine nuts are browned, add the spinach leaves. Cook for a few minutes, stirring. Take off heat when ready.
- Make the Béchamel
- Season the béchamel by adding a generous amount of nutmeg, and salt and pepper to taste. A heavily seasoned béchamel goes well with the richness of the pine nuts.
- Fill the cannelloni with a small spoon/clean fingers if shop-bought. If using homemade pasta, cut a rectangle of pasta with the width of your casserole dish. Form a line of the spinach and pine nut mix on the longer edge of the rectangle. Roll starting from this side, making sure the rectangle is long enough for the line of spinach filling to be fully covered, with a centimetre of extra pasta on the other side to affix (with a bit of water).
- Spread a thin layer of béchamel on the bottom of your casserole dish.
- Add the filled canelons in a row. Traditionally there is only one layer of canelons so each serving/roll has a bit of the cheese gratin.
- Spoon the remaining béchamel sauce on top and spread to make an even layer.
- Grate cheese on top - harder cheeses like parmesan, gruyere, and pecorino work well.
- Put casserole dish in a preheated oven: if using pre-cooked, shop-bought pasta, cook at 220C/200C(fan) for 5-10 minutes just to reheat all the insides and make a gratin on top. If using homemade pasta, cook at 180/170(fan) to fully cook through the pasta.
Bon profit!
Fira Àpat: Aliments Catalan de Proximitat https://fira-apat.cat/2019/10/11/com-fer-canelons-espinacs/
Spinach cannelloni from Catalunya