13th September, 2018

A few months ago the kids and I decided to become vegetarian. I will go more into our reasons in detail another time – but for now, I wanted to share this delicious recipe with you.

Vegetarianism isn’t so foreign to us. As a family – we have always eaten and enjoyed quite a lot of veggo food. I’ve always been fussy with meat. Even from a young age..(just ask my Dad – it drives him crazy!), so giving it up hasn’t been too difficult for me.

Together, we are adjusting and really considering what we are eating. Making sure we’re getting enough iron and protein. We’ve started to eat eggs a little more – which the three of us really disliked before!
(I don’t think I will ever be an eggs for breaky type of girl, but I do have a new-found love of Quiche – as have the kids.)

So here is my take on an old favourite – Cannelloni, packed full of veggies…and a couple of eggs too!

Grated Veggies

Grated Veggies with Spinach added

INGREDIENTS:
Olive oil
Salt and Pepper
1 small onion – finely chopped
3 cloves garlic – crushed
2 zucchini – grated
2 carrots – grated
Half butternut pumpkin – grated
4 cups spinach chopped (I used baby as I couldn’t find regular spinach in the French supermarkets!)
250gm pack of cannelloni tubes
500gm ricotta cheese
2 eggs – lightly whisked
2 jars of pasta sauce – any flavour you like (I used tomato and basil)
1 cup of grated mozzarella cheese

METHOD:
– Heat olive oil and sauté garlic and onion
– Add all grated veggies (zucchini, carrot, pumpkin) – cook for a few minutes until fully heated through, then remove from heat – season well with salt and pepper
– In a separate bowl, combine the whisked eggs and the ricotta cheese until it resembles scrambled eggs.
– Add 3/4 of the egg/cheese mix to the veggie mix and combine well. (Set the remaining 1/4 aside – you will need that later)
– Preheat the oven to 160ºC fan forced

This is the messy bit!!!

– Grab a lasagne dish and brush with a little olive oil to prevent tubes sticking.
– Using a small spoon (or a piping bag if you have one) – fill the cannelloni tubes with the veggie-ricotta mix.
– Pop the filled tubes into the dish in a single layer. Continue until all tubes are used.
– Pour over the pasta sauce, finishing with the last 1/4 of the ricotta mix and then topping with a handful of mozzarella cheese and pepper.
– Bake for 30 minutes covered and then a further 15 minutes uncovered.

VOILA!!

A full lasagne tray will easily feed a family of 4-6.

Sprinkle with some chopped fresh basil leaves and serve with some crusty bread and a fresh salad.

Enjoy!
Cxx

Not pretty right now, but wait…

Dollop the remaining ricotta/egg mix over pasta sauce

Finish with mozzarella and pepper

Drizzle of olive oil – enjoy!!!