Savory Spinach & Feta Cheese Cannelloni: A Delicious Italian Pasta Dish for a Cozy Night In

Indulge in a delicious and comforting Italian dinner with this Spinach and Feta Cheese Cannelloni recipe. Perfect for a cozy night in, this dish is packed with creamy feta cheese, nutritious spinach, and a rich tomato sauce. It's a satisfying and easy-to-make pasta dish that everyone will love. Try it tonight!

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Spinach & Feta Cheese Cannelloni

• Servings: 4

• Prep Time; 20 minutes

• Cook Time: 50 minutes

Main Ingredients

• 12-14 cannelloni pasta

• 9oz / 250gr spinach

• 9oz / 250gr feta cheese

• 1 onion

• 2 leeks

• 3 green onions

• 1 cup / 250ml tomato puree / passata

• 2 garlic cloves

• 1/2 tablespoon of oreganoa bunch of parsley (1/4 cup when chopped)

• salt & pepper

White Sauce Ingredients

• 1/4 cup of plain flour

• 1/4 cup of olive oil or butter

• 0.5lt / 2 cups milk

• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

• salt & pepper

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Instructions

1. Tomato Sauce & Filling

1. I like to start by preparing all the veggies first. I wash the spinach leaves well and depending on the size I cut them roughly into smaller chunks. If you are using baby spinach, then you can leave it as it is. Then, I chop the onion into cubes, cut the leeks and green onions into slices, finely chop the parsley and cut the garlic cloves into smaller bits.
2. Moving to the stove, I start with preparing the tomato sauce. In a small pot, I first sauté the garlic cloves with some olive oil for 1-2 minutes until it’s soft. Garlic can easily get burnt, so do keep an eye on it. Then I add the tomato purée with the oregano, salt, and freshly ground pepper, I add a little bit of water, around a cup, and I leave it to simmer for just 5 minutes. The sauce will still be watery, but we need to cook the cannelloni pasta in the oven later on.
3. For the cannelloni spinach and feta filling, I start with preparing the spinach first. In a big pot, I sauté the onion for a few minutes until it’s translucent and all the sweetness and flavor is out. Then I add the leeks, and green onions and give it a stir.
4. Now it’s time to add the spinach leaves. With the heat, the spinach leaves will get wilted and lose most of the volume. Just give it a stir so the bottom leaves don’t get burnt and for the fresh leaves to touch the bottom of the hot pot. It will just take a few minutes.
5. When the spinach is wilted, I just put it in a bowl and leave it to cool down for a few minutes. Then, I add the feta cheese and chopped parsley, season with salt and pepper, and mix everything well.
6. Our spinach and feta filling is ready, so now it’s time to stuff the cannelloni. I find it easier to use my finger to stuff the cannelloni, as I can easier control the pressure and prevent any breaking. You could also use a piping bag if you prefer but you might find that the feta cheese crumbles get stuck and it’s difficult to squeeze the filling out. So, if you are like me, just put on some gloves and gently start filling the cannelloni with the spinach and feta mixture. The filling is enough for about 12-14 cannelloni, if you have any leftover filling, in the end, no need to throw it away, you can add it to the ovenproof dish under the cannelloni.
7. Before making the white sauce, I put everything together in an ovenproof dish to be ready for the béchamel. Firstly, I add half of the tomato sauce and any leftover filling, and I spread it to cover the whole dish. Then I carefully place the stuffed cannelloni and pour the remaining tomato sauce on top.

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2. Preparing the béchamel sauce

The ingredients I’m using to make the white sauce are very simple, milk, flour, oil or butter, nutmeg, salt, and pepper. In the béchamel sauce that we put on the Greek pastichio, we usually add also cheese and an egg yolk for the color but here I’m keeping it simple since the filling of the cannelloni already has cheese in it.

1. Some people find quite overwhelming the process of making a béchamel sauce, but it’s really quite simple and as long as you have all the ingredients gathered around your pot and a whisk in hand, you are all good to go. To get started, we add the same amount of flour and oil or butter to a pot. We heat it up and keep stirring until the flour is absorbed and it has a nice brown color (not burnt!). This step is important for our sauce to have less of a floury taste.
2. Now, I start adding the milk little by little while I keep whisking vigorously. You will notice that when you first add the milk and start whisking, it is absorbed immediately by the flour mixture and becomes hard and doughy. This is absolutely fine! As we keep adding milk, you will see that the sauce becomes thinner and thinner.
3. To avoid any lumps, you need to keep whisking while pouring the milk with the other hand. I’m using 0.5 liters of milk, that’s about 2 cups. When the sauce is ready and creamy, I turn off the heat and add the nutmeg, salt, and freshly ground pepper. If you are not a fan of nutmeg then you could leave it out, but I find it really gives a nice kick to the béchamel sauce.
4. Now that the white sauce is ready, I simply pour it with a ladle over the cannelloni. With a spatula or a spoon, I spread the béchamel until all the cannelloni are covered and place them in the oven to bake. It takes about 30 minutes for the cannelloni to cook and the béchamel to get a nice brown color on top.

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Notes

• For a dairy-free and vegan version, you could substitute the feta cheese with a vegan one of your choice, and use dairy-free milk for the white sauce.

Serving suggestions

We usually have the spinach & feta cannelloni as a main with some salad on the side. It’s best served warm and fresh when it comes out of the oven.

Storage

If you have any leftover cannelloni, then you can store them in the fridge for the next day. Just warm them up in the oven for 5-8 minutes until the sauce is hot.

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Nutrition Info (per serving)

Calories: 617kcal | Carbohydrates: 67g | Protein: 25g | Cholesterol: 33mg | Fat: 27g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 12g | Fiber: 4g | Sodium: 990mg | Potassium: 612mg | Sugar: 8g

I am not a nutritionist. The nutrition information has been calculated using an online calculator and is intended for information and guidance purposes only. If the nutrition information is important to you, you should consider calculating it yourself, using your preferred tool.