Posted on May 11, 2020 by Jenny Cromack

Quite a number of years ago I was suffering quite badly with my stomach when I went out for run (that’s all I’m saying about that) and I was advised by a nutritionist to minimise wheat in my diet. It set me on the quest to find alternatives to pasta and this is when I stumbled upon this recipe for Spinch and Ricotta Aubergine Cannelloni, and years later it’s still a favourite.

The secret to this recipe is to use slices of aubergine instead of the pasta sheets, although if you want to use pasta then go for it. If you’re following a low carb diet then replacing the pasta with the aubergine slices is a winner! You can also use sliced courgette instead of the aubergine.


This spinach and ricotta aubergine cannelloni not only tastes amazing but is also super easy to make. And as it’s National Vegetarian Week this week I thought this would be the perfect recipe to share.

This recipe below serves 2 people.

Ingredients

  • 1 x large aubergine – sliced length ways
  • 250g ricotta
  • Mixed herbs
  • Couple of handfuls of spinach
  • Oil for cooking
  • 2 tins of chopped tomatoes.
  • Garlic
  • Small onion finely chopped.
  • Basil – fresh or dried.
  • Parmesan or mozzarella cheese – optional

How To

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 200 or 180 for fan ovens.
  2. In a pan, heat up a small amount of oil and then cook the onions until soft, add the garlic cook for another 3-4 minutes and then add the chopped tomatoes. Add some basil to the sauce and leave to simmer.
  3. Slice the aubergine as thinly as possible.
  4. In a large non-stick frying pan, heat a small amount of oil. Once heated, use a piece of kitchen roll to rub the oil over the bottom of the frying pan to ensure an evening coverage for cooking the aubergine.
  5. Place the aubergine in the pan, cook on one side until browning then turn and cook on the other side. If your pan doesn’t fit in all of the aubergine slices in, then don’t worry you can do them 1-2 slices at a time and then leave them on a plate to cool whilst the others are cooking. If you have a griddle pan then you can use the griddle pan to cook the aubergine.
  6. Leave the aubergine to cool.
  7. Whilst the aubergine is cooking, steam the spinach so it is wilted and drain any excess water – you do not want any water going into the ricotta mix.
  8. In a bowl, mix the ricotta, spinach and herbs.
  9. Place 1-2 tsp of the ricotta mix onto the larger end of one of the aubergine slices and roll up. Keep repeating until you have done all of the aubergine slices.
  10. Place a small amount of the sauce on the bottom of an over dish and then pop the aubergine in rows into the dish.
  11. Cover with the sauce.
  12. If you like, you can cover the sauce with grated parmesan or shredded mozzarella.
  13. Bake in oven for around 20-30 minutes, until the sauce is bubbling.
  14. Serve with steamed or roasted vegetables.

Enjoy!