Spinach & Ricotta Cannelloni

I recently had a gorgeous and very pregnant friend of mine over for dinner with some others. I wanted to make something comforting, easy and not complicated or overly expensive. I decided on cannelloni. I then thought maybe I should check if there are things she cannot or will not eat. The answer was ricotta. I'd already bought everything for the cannelloni, so I invited some friends over later in the week and we enjoyed this meal with a nice bottle of Barossa Shiraz, salad and garlic bread.

1 onion, chopped
Zest of half a lemon
3 bunches English spinach, trimmed, shredded
300g ricotta cheese
250g packet cannelloni pasta
1/2 cup finely grated parmesan
1 egg, lightly beaten
Sauce
1 tsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 440g can peeled whole tomatoes
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon sugar

Preheat oven to 200°C. Melt butter in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic. Cook for 3 minutes. Add spinach. Cook for 5 minutes. Set aside to cool. Process in a food processor with ricotta and oregano until smooth. Season with salt and pepper and stir thru the egg and lemon zest.

Make sauce by heating the oil in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Add onion and garlic. Cook for 10 minutes. Add remaining sauce ingredients. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low. Simmer until sauce thickens.

Lightly grease a 2-litre capacity casserole dish. and spread 1/3 of the sauce over base of dish. Spoon spinach and ricotta mixture into cannelloni tubes. Place into dish. Spoon over remaining sauce. Sprinkle with cheeses. Bake for 45 minutes, or until golden and tender.

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