Baked Spinach and Ricotta Rotolo is like Lasagna Rolls Ups and Cannelloni – but BETTER because it’s got brown crunchy bits. And crunchy bits are always the best!
Spinach and Ricotta Rotolo
I’m going to call it – this will be the best new thing you’ve made all year. The rich tomato sauce. The creamy spinach and ricotta filling spiked with parmesan and nutmeg. Golden brown bubbly cheese. And the brown crunchy bits, the crowning glory.
How inappropriate would it be to pick off all the crunchy bits before it gets to the table? 😂
What is Rotolo?
Rotolo is a traditional Italian dish that’s not widely known outside of Italy. The literal translation of “rotolo” is “scroll” or “coil”.
The authentic way of making rotolo involves a very large fresh pasta sheet that is spread with a filling then rolled up to form a roulade. It’s quite technical and fussy because you then need to wrap the roulade in a tea towel and poach it, then slice it to serve with a sauce.
For day to day cooking, I shelved this as a “too hard” recipe. But then I came across this baked version made by Jamie Oliver. The way he made it, it was basically cannelloni made with fresh lasagna sheets which is sliced then placed into the tomato sauce and baked.
It’s not purely authentic, but for ordinary people like me, it is much more practical. And so darn tasty! Those brown bits….those crunchy brown bits. They make this dish!
Basically, if you love Spinach and Ricotta Cannelloni (or this pasta bake or lasagna, for that matter!) then you’re going to be mad over this Rotolo. Guaranteed.
Spinach Ricotta Rotolo Rilling
Rotolo comes with all sorts of stuffing options. Jamie Oliver’s recipe is made with squash and spinach, it’s also made with meat, and Spinach & Ricotta is a popular option which is what I’ve gone with.
Here’s what you need for the filling:
PS Let’s pretend I didn’t forget to put LASAGNA SHEETS in the above photo! Fresh best, but if you can only get dried, just boil to cook then use per recipe.
Want a meat filling?
Use the filling from this Spinach & Beef Cannelloni – scale up by 50% (ie use 750g/1.5lb beef, or use extra spinach), cool (will thicken) then roll!
Spinach Ricotta Rotolo Sauce
And here’s what you need for the sauce:
Tomato Passata is key for this sauce. Because it’s pureed tomato, it’s the ideal consistency to make a smooth tomato sauce for the Rotolo with just 5 minutes simmering. Using canned tomato would require at least 30 minutes simmering for the chunks to break down enough to make the desired consistency for the sauce.
How to make Baked Rotolo
And here’s how it’s made:
Make the sauce first;
Mix filling, roll up, cut into thirds;
Place in sauce, bake!
The smells coming out of your oven while it’s baking are pretty darn good.
But that moment when you pull it out of the oven and you stare at what you’ve just made, mesmerised by how magnificent it looks…. it’s worth making, just to see THIS in real life:
They’re quite sturdy little things, so you don’t need to dig in with a delicate touch. They hold together well (the lasagna sheets adhere as they cook) and they hold their form pretty well as you scoop them up. See? (And just WAIT until you see the video!)
Truthfully though, some will flop and sag, and fall on their side, and you probably will rip the side off some of the them as you scoop into the pan to plate them up.
And that’s completely on theme. There’s nothing elegant about this Spinach and Ricotta Rotolo. It’s rustic. The best sort of food – relaxed deliciousness!
Being that there’s a couple of bunches of spinach in this (ahem, in the form of frozen spinach!) and a big bottle of tomato passata, there’s actually a decent amount of vegetables in this dish. So I usually serve it just as is without any sides for a casual midweek meal.
But a fresh side salad would certainly elevate the meal – this Rocket Salad with Parmesan Shavings is very on theme (classic Italian) – and I am pretty sure nobody would say no to a side of Garlic Bread.
Now, go forth and impress the pants off your family and friends! – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Baked Spinach and Ricotta Rotolo
Ingredients
- 8 – 10 fresh lasagne sheets (15 x 11 cm/6 x 4.5") (Note 1)
- 1 cup mozarella cheese , shredded
- 1 tbsp olive oil (for drizzling later)
Filling
- 500g / 1 lb frozen spinach (pre chopped) , thawed and excess water squeezed out (Note 2)
- 500 g / 1 lb ricotta cheese (NOT smooth, whipped or spreadable in tubs, Note 3)
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese , shredded
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese , shredded
- 1 garlic clove , pressed using garlic crusher or finely grated
- 1/4 fresh nutmeg , grated (or 1/8 tsp nutmeg powder)
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp Black pepper
Tomato Sauce
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic , minced
- 1/2 onion , finely diced (brown, yellow, white)
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 700 g / 24 oz tomato passata (US: Tomato puree) (Note 5)
- 1 1/2 cups water
- Handful basil leaves (optional)
Instructions
Tomato Sauce:
- Heat oil in a 25cm/10" ovenproof skillet over medium high heat. (Note 6)
- Add garlic and sauté for 10 seconds then add onion.
- Cook onion until translucent and starting to turn golden, then passata, water, chilli flakes (if using), salt and pepper.
- Simmer for 5 minutes on medium low, then stir through basil. Should be quite thin – the lasagna sheets will absorb water while in the oven so sauce thickens alot in oven.
- Scoop out 1 cup of the Tomato Sauce which will be used to drizzle over the dish at the end. Keep sauce warm.
Filling & Assembling:
- Preheat oven to 180°C/350CF (all oven types)
- Place Filling ingredients in a bowl. Mix well with wooden spoon.
- As per the photo & video, lay out the lasagne sheet with the shorter end in front of you.
- Place 1/3 cup (packed) of filling onto the lasagne sheet. Dab some water on the end furthest away from you (to seal the roll), then roll up starting from the end closest to you. Finish with the seal down.
- Cut rolls into 3 (so each piece is 3.5cm/1.5" wide). Place the rolls into the tomato sauce with the filling facing up.
- Repeat with remaining lasagna sheets until all the Filling is used up.
- Drizzle the reserved Tomato Sauce over (don't cover completely, leave some exposed).
- Cover loosely with foil, bake 30 minutes.
- Remove from oven, remove foil. Drizzle with oil, top with mozzarella.
- Bake 15 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly and golden and you've got some crunchy golden bits on the edges. Serve!
Recipe Notes:
- need to be fresh sheets from the fridge section so they can be rolled up
- standard 375g/ 12oz packs from Australian grocery store is more than you need – you’ll have about 1/3 leftover (freeze and use in beef, chicken or vegetable lasagna)
- dried sheets – boil them per packet, drain then use.
- size – don’t worry if your lasagne sheets are not exactly the same size (they come in all different sizes). They can be any size as long as they can be cut to size so they are long enough to roll up, then can be cut into 3.5 – 4 cm / 1.5″ little logs.
- Paesanella brand is my favourite (vac packed baskets at Harris and delis);
- Don’t use spreadable / whipped or smooth ricotta, these are for spreading on things so they are fluffier and creamier;
- 🇦🇺 Australia, do NOT get Perfect Italiano in tubs from the fridge section! It is offensively bad – powdery and terrible;
- 250g/8oz cream cheese softened +250g/8oz cottage cheese*
- Greekish spin – 250g/8oz cream cheese softened + 150g/5oz feta (preferably Danish, the creamier rather than crumbly feta, if you can find it) + 100g/3oz cottage cheese* (or more feta)
Nutrition Information:
Originally published June 2014. Years overdue for a VIDEO to be added!
Life of Dozer
I’m sure you’d have a very different reaction if that were me and that bottle were real. 😂
I am addicted to your site. Loved this recipe. Made my own sauce and used fresh spinach which I cooked and drained well. I am a retired chef and still love creating wonderful dishes for family and friends. I have your wing book and wait with great anticipation for my emails.
So glad you loved it Jan!! And thank you for getting my wings cookbook! Retired chef?? A pro using recipes from my site? I’m totally humbled. Thank you. N x
When it’s good, professional or not, use it. You don’t need years of training and a piece of paper to be a great cook. Passion for what you enjoy and a respect for the food nature has provided is all anyone needs. Being able to share all this with friends and family and a good bottle of wine is happiness in my life. Keep up the good work and follow your passion.
Thank you so much Jan!! That’s so sweet of you to say 🙂
Hi, Looks delish. what kind of lasagna do you buy? No boil? Cooked? Confused about that part..
Hi Rebekah! I buy fresh lasagna which is pliable, like fresh pasta. It is no boil. It’s found in the refrigerator section of the supermarket. 🙂
Good morning. I have made a similar dish using pasta sheets I make at home and also with cooked lasagna noodles purchased from the supermarket. We live in a small town and our Kroger does not carry fresh pasta. I suspect I am not the only person who has this problem.
Oh boy. This would be amazing with homemade pasta sheets!!! 🙂
So, i have a date tonight who is a veggie. As i primarily eat meats and carbs (This is painting a bad picture of me…. sorry) i find it difficult to inpress with my veggie cooking. So i thought i would try and impress with this dish as it seems that even i can follow this one. Plus, i am really trying to broaden my knowledge of them little green things and introduce them into my diet more. Off to the supermarket now to buy the ingredients and i shall feedback tomorrow how it all went.
I must say though, first impressions are that the recipe looks great and i am super excited to give this a go. Wish me luck!
That doesn’t sound bad, it sounds like ME!! I don’t know how I’d go dating a vegetarian!!! I do hope your date goes well and you love this rotolo. This is a massive personal favourite of mine!! 🙂
Hi there!
What a great recipe! I came across it a couple of days ago and made it for the first time yesterday following the recipe and adding a few personal touches. For once I’m not fond of mozarella (mostly because in Germany we usually have a very soft kind that can’t be shredded), so I used Gouda instead.
I had some mushrooms left over. I sautéed those and added them to half of the filling, so I ended up with half ricotta-spinach and half ricotta-spinach-mushrooms. It was very good. My roommate loves mushrooms, so she loved those especially!
Only one of our local store’s sells fresh lasagne sheets. Since I don’t like their fresh pasta, I used dried lasagne sheets and cooked them for a couple of minutes. It actually worked out pretty good filling them.
My mom dropped by my place after work and tried the dish. She loved it.
So today we kind of made it again…but different. This time we used a filling consisting of sautéed carrots, celeriac and leek mixed with cream cheese (I used a mix of plain cream cheese and one honey-fig-mustard one which I love for cooking). So the filling wasn’t as creamy as the ricotta-spinach one but still amazingly tasty.
Anyway. Long story short. I love this. It’s great and tasty! And since everyone mentions the crunchy bits: Yes, they are the best. I’m definetely going to do this again. I’m gonna browse through your blog now, looking for other things… 😀
All the best
Charlotte
Wow! Thanks so much for your enthusiastic message Charlotte! Especially glad your mum loved it. 🙂 Hope you find other things on here you love!!
Hi Nagi, I came across your blog recently and really liked the way you write. A big thumbs up for that ?. I decided to make this recipe when I first saw it , even though I never ate or cooked with ricotta cheese , this recipe looked really interesting and yummy. I love baked pasta and don’t really come across a lot of good vegetarian lasagna recipes. This turned out amazing. My husband loved it. So thank you ?. I’m definitely trying a lot more recipes from your blog.
Hi Pallavi! Thank you for your lovely message, I’m glad you are enjoying my blog! And I am SUPER glad you and your husband loved this!! Ooh, you’ve given me a hankering for it now. Might have to put it on my menu for this week!
Does the pasta need to be cooked or rolling up in pasta dough is fine?
And can i use processed cheese and paneer instead of ricotta? We dont have ricotta where we live
Hi Tarshari! Fresh pasta dough won’t work I’m afraid, it will be too soft and won’t stand upright. The store bought fresh lasagna sheets are raw but they are slightly dried which is why they are firm enough to stand upright.
You could try drying your pasta dough slightly? I haven’t tried that myself, but my oh my, making this with real fresh pasta dough would be INCREDIBLE!
Yes you can make this paneer as long as the paneer you use can be “crumbled” and mixed with processed grated cheese which together will have a ricotta like consistency when cooked. Paneer itself is too dry but by adding melting cheese it will be a great substitute! If you can, perhaps add a splash of cream or milk to make the cheeses a bit creamier. Hope you love it!!
Nx
What do you recommend to pair this dish with for a side dish? Fresh salad?
Hi there! I think a fresh salad is perfect 🙂 After going to the effort making this, I’d just get some mixed lettuce leaves and dress it with a drizzle of lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper! 🙂
It looks so tasty! Definitely i will cook this 🙂
This makes me weak in the knees….it is SO GOOD! 🙂
Did you perhaps use regular lasagna noodles and cook them just best to make them pliable?
Nope, I’ve never tried that! With my clumsy hands, I’d probably tear them 🙂 And come to think of it, I think they might be a bit too floppy to make this. But if you try it, I’d be curious to know if it works!
Hi, my question is how deep should the baking dish be? Should the rolls be completely submerged in the sauce in order for the pasta to cook evenly?
Hi Desteny! The baking dish needs to be around 3 inches/7.5cm deep. Nope, it doesn’t need to be completely submerged because the steam from the tomato sauce helps cook the exposed part AND the exposed part is supposed to be exposed above the sauce so it becomes nice and crispy! 🙂
what sort of pan do you recommend for best results? cant tell what you used here but it looks so pretty and i would love the same presentation !!
Hi Suzy! I think this sort of dish is fabulous served in a cast iron skillet which is what I used! 🙂 But it will work in a baking dish too. Whichever you prefer!
Could this be cooked using a slow cooker/crock pot? If so, at what temperature (low or high) should it be cooked and for how long? Would anything in the recipe need to be changed?
Hi Kyla! Unfortunately I don’t recommend cooking this in a slow cooker as you won’t get the crunchy crust at the top and because no liquid evaporates, the sauce will remain too watery. Sorry!
Second time making this!
Made with fresh pasta bought from an italian store here in Ottawa!
Love it, love it, love it!
SO happy to hear your enthusiasm for this!! I love it, love it, love it too!! 🙂
This looks incredible! I can’t wait to try it – I think it might even top Jamie’s spinach and squash recipe! Also, your food photography it beautiful 🙂
Noo!! Don’t say that, what if he reads this??! 😉 Just jokes!! I think it’s safe to say that will NEVER happen! Thank you for your kind words Fiona, I hope you do try it, it really is super duper delicious! 🙂
Love your website! So glad I found it 🙂
Thank you Ali! And I’m glad you found me!! 🙂 Have you seen the current giveaway I have on? It’s in the Apple Pie “Fries” recipe which is on my homepage. I’m giving away 4 food processors! Oh, and I’ve got another give-away coming up next week too! Hope you have a great week! 🙂
Do I have to boil the noodles before?
Hi Reeshema! Nope you do not need to boil the lasagna sheets before hand. Mind you though, this is made with fresh lasagna sheets that you get from the refrigerated section of the supermarket so they are already pliable. 🙂
I loved this recipe and I wonna try it. But what can I use instead of ricotta cheese as it’s not available in this country. And what would be the quantity in this case
Thank you
Hi Maya! Can you get cottage cheese? If so, that is a good substitute, strain it to remove excess liquid then use as per the recipe but add 1/2 tsp salt because ricotta has more flavour. If you can’t get cottage cheese either, then use steamed or boiled cubes of pumpkin. Lightly crush them, not mash them, add plenty of salt and pepper AND butter for added creaminess then use the same amount of pumpkin as the ricotta cheese in the recipe. Hope that helps! 🙂
Hello,
I see you have a freeze option, but have you ever tried freezing it and reheating it? I’m a little nervous it won’t turn out after freezing.
Hi Jessica! I have tried freezing it both before baking and after baking and both ways it works out fine. If you freeze after baking, you can reheat it in the microwave. But if you freeze it “raw”, then it needs to be baked 🙂
I make my own pasta do you suggest parboiling it before using it in this recipe
Hi Pauline! Very impressed you make your own pasta – it is an occasion when I do! Fresh pasta won’t need to be par boiled but it will need to be slightly dried so it is stiff enough to stand upright. This will be AMAZING with fresh pasta. I’ve never tried it, love to know what you think! 🙂
Hi Andrea! I suspect the page didn’t finish loading 🙂 The recipe instructions include all the ingredients you need to make this! 🙂
HI I was wondering if a person could use something other then tomato sauce ? I have 2 people in my family that are allergic to tomatoes .
Ooh Iris, that’s a tough one! I’m sorry, I can’t think of anything off the top of my head as an immediate substitute using this recipe. However, if I were to create one without tomatoes in the sauce, I would probably make one using a white sauce (like the one I used in my Mac and Cheese recipe) without using cream. Or I would puree cooked cauliflower with milk and flavourings and use that as the sauce. I think that would be yummy AND pretty! I hope that helps with some ideas!!
why not use Alfredo sauce……???
You sure can if you want Linda! This has so much flavour in it already I find the extra sauce isn’t required 🙂
Passata is just called tomato sauce in America for anyone who doesn’t know what it is.
Um, no, that’s not accurate.
Tomato passata and tomato sauce are not quite the same. Tomato passata is crushed rather than turned completely into liquid. Also, passata is typically unsweetened and unsalted, where tomato sauce tends to have a bit of sugar and salt added. They’re different things, and you can find most in a well-stocked grocery store.
Hi Kali! Thanks for the message, I’ll update the recipe 🙂 I thought canned tomato sauce in America was just pure tomatoes based on the research I did??? I’ll update the recipe with more notes to make sure people don’t use tomatoes with extra sugar and salt added!
Thanks for the tip Ariana! I’ve updated the recipe for it 🙂
I hope you see my comment – tomato passata is not the same as tomato sauce in the US!
Thanks Kali, I did! I’ll update the recipe with notes! 🙂