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. 😂
Looks good. I’m gonna try it. 🙂
Have you ever tried it with mushroom in the filing? Will it leak water during baking? 🙂
Hi Kinga! No, I haven’t tried it with mushrooms yet. Do you mean adding it, or replacing the spinach? If adding it, then if you sauté it before adding it, it won’t go watery. If you are replacing the spinach with mushroom, I’d change up the filling recipe quite a bit actually! Maybe add some lemon zest and thyme, and still add a bit of spinach. I think mushroom + ricotta only would be a bit “flat”. Just my personal opinion! 🙂
I mean adding it. I don’t wanna replace the spinach, I like it. 🙂
Oh, in which case, definitely! I would slice and sauté until browned so the water is evaporated, then just mix it in! It will be delicious for SURE. You can reduce the spinach so you get the same ricotta to spinach + mushroom ratio. To make sure it holds together well still and also so you don’t end up with heaps of leftover filling!
Hi!
I just discovered your blog today and have literally been browsing for 2 hours! So beautifully done and I want to try most everything. I would love to try this recipe but have a son with a wheat allergy that we recently discovered. Would I be able to use gluten free lasagna noodles, partially cook/boil them and then cut, roll and cook? I’m not up sure if they would hold the same and if the cooking time and temp would have to change. Any tips would be appreciated.
Hi Jane! I am so touched that you have been enjoying my site 🙂 Comments like these are the reason I blog!! Unfortunately I do not have any experience with gluten free lasagna. But if they can be partially cooked until they are pliable enough to roll up, then I don’t see why it wouldn’t work! I have done that with dried lasagna before. But I do find that it is much more convenient using fresh lasagna. In Australia, you can get gluten free fresh lasagna sheets from wholefood stores. The other thing I have done is make these with corn tortillas. I know that sounds strange, and the texture is not quite the same because it isn’t lasagna sheets but it was still absolutely delicious! And as a gluten free alternative, it worked really well 🙂 Hope that helps! Oh, and I’m currently working on creating a Gluten Free section so I’ll have all my recipes properly sorted soon!
For a pasta alternative, I bet zucchini that has been sliced to the same length ( 1 1/2″) but hollowed out so it is like a tube, and drained on paper towel before assembling might work.
Hmm! You have me thinking! The only thing I would be concerned about is whether they would be watery. I have made this using eggplant slices. It was fabulous! I grilled the slices first to make them pliable. 🙂
Just tried this. Amazing!! A new go-to meal. How can I subscribe to your recipes?
Hi Penny! Thank you so much for your wonderful feedback – I’m glad you liked it!! I love it too! 🙂 Actually, seeing this comment reminded me that I haven’t made this in a while, I must make it again soon!!
Hi,
I tried this recipe last night and followed the instructions to the letter and have 2 questions for you:
1. How do I get my filling to be firmer? I squeezed small hand fills of fresh spinach in paper towels – repeated this process to remove as much water as possible – so you can see I’m disappointed that the filling was not as firm looking as your photo
2. I used fresh lasagna sheets – unsure if it was just the brand I bought – but the rolls were very difficult to cut – the filling kept squishy out either side. I eventually gave up and just tried cutting them in half instead of the three, and placed the halves in separate dish to cook.
After a lot of fiddling – and wondering if dinner was going to be cheese on toast instead – the end result was amazing. I was shocked at how good it looked as well considering some of the rolls collapsed. And it tasted amazing.
I’m going to give this recioe another chance using other – softer lasagne sheets – but need to work on firmer filling.
Thanks for the recipe.
Hope to hear from you.
Kind regards
Hi Lesley! I’m sorry for the troubles you experienced. To answer each of your questions:
1. Filling – as you squeezed all the water out of the spinach correctly, the only thing I can imagine is that the ricotta you used was quite watery. In Australia (and in the US), ricotta is the consistency of peanut butter – very soft to cut into but holds its form. It is very different to, for example, cottage cheese which has alot of water in it. This recipe will not work with cottage cheese – you would have the exact problem you had. So I am thinking it must be the ricotta brand you used? Was it watery? Also, did you add the egg, per the recipe? That is in the filling because it helps with the binding.
2. I think part of the problem with the filling coming out is because the filling was too runny. When it is firmer, the filling largely stays in place even when you cut through it and if a bit squeezes out the end, it is very easy to just push it back in. You can see from the photos I have in the post that mine cut through quite cleanly. Also, a tip is to use your thumb and forefinger to “pinch” the roll up just at the place you are cutting it. Then when you cut through, the roll up doesn’t squish down. In case you are wondering, I just used a general kitchen knife to cut through, not a bread or serrated knife of any kind.
I am so glad you loved the taste even though you had these difficulties! I can honestly say that I did not have the problems you experienced. But as I wrote, I am pretty sure the ricotta is the key i.e. making sure it isn’t watery. If need be, I will post a photo of the ricotta I use so you can see the consistency!
I hope this helps! – Nagi
I know what Lesley means, but its ok, I didnt fill the ‘tubes’ as full, so when I cut, it oozed towards the outside edge and filled the outside edges.
I also only had dried sheets to hand, so I just par-cooked (2 at a time) for 5-6 min each in a pan of simmering water, so they were soft and pliable (but not too soft) and rolled the filling, they worked out perfectly !!! I did a combo of Mashed pumpkin, and spinach ricotta, so ppl could choose which one they wanted !!! perfect lunch for 5 Nagi.
This looks so lovely! Any suggestions for cooking this delight in the crock pot? Our kitchen is currently under remodel and the slow cooker is the substitute stove for the time being. Cheers!
Hi Jennifer! Unfortunately this won’t work in a slow cooker. It really must be baked to evaporate liquid and to brown the surface. If you make this in the crock pot it will end up more like a lasagna and also the rotolo probably won’t stay upright because it will get too “wet”. sorry, I wish I could say otherwise!
Looks fantastic!!! Glad to find a recipe too that I can get the ingredients for here in Australia without having to spend extra prep time, trying to work out our equivalent to certain ingredients. Q and E my type of cooking. Thanks.
Hi Pauline! I’m in Australia too! So all my ingredients are from good ole’ Coles, Woolies and Aldi’s!
Where do you buy the Lasagna sheets I have never seen them before, the recipe sounds great would like to try it.
Hi Joyce! You can buy them from the refrigerator section at supermarkets (i.e. where you get butter, cream etc) with lots of pasta things – like ravioli, gnocchi, fresh spaghetti and fresh pasta sauces. Fresh lasagna sheets will be amongst them. I hope you do try it, I love this so much!!
Tank you very much for this recipe. I have tested ! Un vrai délice merci et pardon pour mon anglais … !
Pleasure! Glad you enjoyed it!
This looks amazing!
Is there any recommendation for adding meat?
We love meat!
Thanks,
Jenna
Oh I love your comment – “We love meat!” The easiest way to add meat would be to about 1 packed cup of shredded chicken, beef or pork and reduce the amount of spinach by a bit and reduce the ricotta by about 1/4. You don’t want to reduce the ricotta too much otherwise the filling will be too dry. I’ve never tried it with ground/mince meat but I am sure you could use mince too (same quantity as shredded chicken). Heat olive oil, add garlic and onion, cook mince, add salt, pepper, oregano, dried basil (or any other Italian spices). Then let cool before mixing with ricotta and spinach. Adjust quantities as required so the filling is moist and sticks together. Hope that helps!
First time I saw the pasta could be rolled up this way, great idea! The pictures made me very hungry now!
I have to echo some of the other comments you’ve received: the recipe is on the top of my to-make list, but the photos are AMAZING! I’m so very impressed. And I’ve never thought of turning my lasagna rollups that direction either, but will from now on. Crunchy bits are the best.
Thanks Lorinda! Glad to hear my enthusiasm for the crunchy bits isn’t so weird after all 🙂
I’m in love! I knew this one was gonna be a hit 😉
Thanks Farah!
What a gorgeous recipe, and what a filling, delicious thing to have for dinner! And girl, we all know the browned bits at the bottom of the pan are the best, and there’s nothing wrong with picking extra of that for yourself. In fact, my husband and I generally fight over the browned bits because we both love ’em so much.
I’ve never made something like this, but I absolutely want to try now! I doubt my tastebuds will be disappointed!
Thanks Erin! And I’m so glad to hear you do the same with the brown bits – now I don’t feel so classless!!
This look absolutely delicious!! Such gorgeous photos too ;). I make lasagna rolls all the time but never once did I think to place them up! Pinning and will try soon. Thank you so much for the recipe, and it’s lovely to connect with you.
Thanks Min! I love lasagna roll ups – it’s the only way I make cannelloni because I never managed to master stuffing the dry tubes, too hard for me!!
Looks great. Have you ever frozen it? if so. before or after baking?
Hi Diana – yes, I’ve done both. It’s better frozen before baking, then defrost it before baking. Just remember to freeze it without the cheese on it because otherwise when you bake it, the cheese will burn! I have also frozen it after baking. It’s ok, but requires effort to reinvigorate. After defrosting, you need to sprinkle about 2 tablespoons of water per 6 pieces of rotolo (most of it on the pasta sauce). Then reheat in the microwave and then grill/broil for 5 minutes to get the brown bits crunchy again. Or you can bake it, covered, until just heated through, then remove the cover and bake until hot and the top is crunchy again. I would recommend adding a scattering of fresh cheese.
Thanks for the question, you have reminded me to update the recipe with these tips!
Great minds think alike! I have Jamie Oliver’s cook book with his recipe and was not keen on the ingredients so have dismissed it. Your take in this dish is more to my taste and I need it ASAP.
I thought I was the only lover of browned crunchy bits, it appears not!
I have made the Jamie Oliver recipe, it was a bit bland. This looks tastier
Hi Gertie!! I made Jamie’s too. I thought it was tasty, just alot of effort 🙂 And I thought this was yummier!!
No way, you definitely aren’t alone in this, the brown crunchy bits are the best with EVERYTHING!! I keep going on and on about it in practically every recipe I post!!
yum, i could definitely devour a bowl full of this pasta right now! i’ve never tried a rotolo before.. think im missing out on something seriously delicious!
Thanks Thalia! Such a co-incidence, I was just over at your blog browsing around!! 🙂
Oh my gosh, delicious! It’s like a whole dish of the best part of a pasta bake, the browned edges! Genius! : )
Thanks Crystal! You got it in one – the brown bits! The brown bits!
Brilliant! It looks amazing and I’m sure it tastes equally good. The brown crunchy crown bits – that’s always the best bits and my favourite.
Thanks Padaek! Appreciate your kind words 🙂