Air Fryer Spinach Cannelloni

The great thing about this air fryer spinach cannelloni is that even if you don’t have time to make the cannelloni from scratch, lots of supermarkets sell them fresh and ready rolled for convenience. Adding the pesto to the ricotta cheese and spinach just gives tis dish that little extra flavour too. This is a classic fool proof recipe that will become a firm favourite in your family.

You can find this recipe on page 151 of The Ultimate Air Fryer Cookbook: One Basket Meals.

PREP 20 minutes

COOK 30 minutes

SERVES 4 people

KIT you will need an air fryer, a tea towel, a colander, a kettle, a mixing bowl and a large oven proof dish.

Ingredients for air fryer spinach cannelloni

300g of fresh spinach

250g of ricotta cheese

1 egg, beaten

75g of parmesan cheese, freshly grated

1 tablespoon of green pesto

8 small fresh lasagne sheets (or four larger sheets, cut in half)

2 x 500g jars of passata

2 x 125g mozzarella balls, drained

Sea salt and ground black pepper

To serve:

Green salad

Garlic bread (optional)

Method

So first put your spinach in a colander and pour over a full kettle of boiling water. This will wilt the spinach. Then lay out a clean tea towel on your work surface and place the spinach on to it. Then wrap up and press gently to remove as much moisture as you can.

Next put the spinach in a large mixing bowl and add the ricotta cheese, egg, parmesan and pesto. Season and mix everything together.
Put your lasagne sheets in a shallow dish, pour over another full kettle of boiling water and leave for 5 minutes to soften. Drain then place the lasagne sheets on to a clean tea towel.

Using a teaspoon, spoon an equal quantity of the filling on to each lasagne sheet, arranging it in a line down the longest edge of each sheet. Carefully roll up the lasagne sheets, placing them into a large oven proof dish as you go. Or you can remove the crisper plate from the air fryer and place them directly in the air fryer basket. Then pour the passata in first and then place the rolled cannelloni on top. Set the temperature to 160c and cook for around 20 minutes, or until the sauce thickens and starts to bubble.

So after around 20 minutes, rip up your mozzarella and sprinkle the cheese over the top. Cook for a further 10 minutes until the cheese is melted and golden and everything is piping hot. Then serve your spinach and ricotta cannelloni hot with a fresh green salad and garlic bread if you like.