Mushroom and Spinach Cannelloni
Serves 6

A delicious vegetarian main course. Use lasagna sheets and pre-soak them in warm water to make them pliable and then roll up the filling in them to form cannelloni tubes.

1 x 200 g packet flat lasagna sheets (we used 12 of the sheets)
1 onion, chopped
2 T (30 ml) olive oil
1 x 250 g sliced mushrooms
3 T (45 ml) red CinZano
2 t (10 ml) Ina Paarman's Garlic Pepper Seasoning
½ cup (125 ml) fat reduced cream
1 x 300 g bag spinach, well washed
2 T (30 ml) olive oil
½ t (2,5 ml) Ina Paarman's Green Onion Seasoning
1 x 400 g Ina Paarman's Creamy Cheese Pasta Sauce
½ cup (125 ml) milk
1 egg, beaten with a fork
½ cup (125 ml) grated mozzarella cheese
200 g baby tomatoes
Ina Paarman's Green Onion Seasoning
fresh herbs to garnish

Preheat the oven to 180ºC. Soak the lasagna sheets for 10-15 minutes in hot tap water. This dramatically improves the tenderness of the pasta and reduces the baking time to only 35 minutes. Spread the sheets out on a clean dishcloth.

Brown the onion in the oil. Add the mushrooms and stir-fry for 2 minutes. Add the CinZano and boil fast while stirring to cook the mushrooms and to boil away the wine. Season with Garlic Pepper and add fat reduced cream. Simmer slowly for 5 minutes.

Place the wet spinach into a large saucepan with a tight fitting lid and allow it to wilt for about 5 minutes. Chop the leaves in a food processor or very finely with a cook's knife. Add olive oil and Green Onion seasoning. Taste and add a little more seasoning if needed. Add the prepared spinach to the mushroom mixture.

Spoon a generous helping of filling lengthways down the middle of each lasagna sheet and roll up. Place, seam-side down in an ovenproof dish. Arrange the tomatoes, cut in half, over the tubes and season with Green Onion seasoning.

Pour the cheese pasta sauce into a medium bowl. Pour the milk into the empty pasta jar and shake well to get every bit out. Pour into the bowl, add egg and mix to thin the sauce down.

Spoon the sauce over the cannelloni and sprinkle with mozzarella. Bake at 180ºC for 35 minutes until golden brown. Garnish with fresh herbs and serve with a green salad dressed with our Classic Lemon Vinaigrette.

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A lovely moist lasagna. If you do not like the fresh tomato, see variation below.

The big trick is to soak the sheets of pasta in warm water for 10 minutes to soften them. To calculate exactly how many sheets of lasagna you need - fit the sheets in the dish, multiply by three for the three layers and you know how many to soak.

1 x 200 g packet riffled lasagna sheets (we used 14 sheets for our dish)
1 onion, chopped
2 T (30 ml) oil
500 g lean beef mince
2 t (10 ml) Ina Paarman's Garlic Pepper Seasoning
1 t (5 ml) Ina Paarman's Beef Stock Powder
½ cup (125 ml) cream (fat reduced is fine)
2 T (30 ml) water
3 large ripe tomatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
Ina Paarman's Green Onion Seasoning
1½ t (7,5 ml) sugar
1 x 400 g Ina Paarnan's Creamy Cheese Pasta Sauce
½ cup (125 ml) fresh milk
1 x 250 g smooth cottage cheese
1 egg

TOPPING
½ cup (125 ml) grated pecorino or parmesan cheese
1 T (15 ml) olive oil or melted butter
½ cup (125 ml) soft white breadcrumbs

Soak the lasagna sheets for 10-15 minutes in hot tap water. This dramatically improves the tenderness of the pasta and reduces the baking time of the lasagna to only 35 minutes. Spread sheets out on a clean dishcloth.

Brown the onion in the oil. Add the mince and stir-fry with a fork, pressing down to break any big lumps. Add Garlic Pepper seasoning and Stock Powder. Add cream and water. Simmer slowly for 10 minutes.

Slice the tomatoes and season with Green Onion seasoning and sugar. Pour the cheese pasta sauce into a medium bowl. Pour the milk into the empty pasta jar and shake well to get every bit out. Pour into the bowl, add cottage cheese and egg and mix to thin the sauce down.

Using a 30 cm x 24 cm ovenproof dish, spread ¼ of the cheese sauce mixture into the dish. Layer with a 1/3 of the pasta sheets, then a 1/3 of the mince mixture, one sliced tomato and another ¼ of the cheese sauce. Repeat layering twice more and end with a layer of cheese sauce mixture.

Mix the grated cheese, olive oil or melted butter and fresh breadcrumbs and sprinkle over the top. Bake for 35 minutes until nicely browned. Serve with a well-dressed Italian salad with Ina Paarman's Classic Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing or Caesar Salad Dressing and country style bread.

 VARIATION:

Omit the fresh tomatoes and add 3T (45 ml) of Ina's Tomato Pesto to the mince after cooking

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PASTA BRANDS
We tested both local and imported pasta sheets, we found Fattis & Monis excellent (no sticking together after soaking). Woolworths brand was less successful in this application. Barilla was good but pricey.

This international favourite is often billed on menus as Salad Capresé. Because the salad is so simple the quality of all the ingredients is important. Very ripe red tomatoes and best quality mozzarella cheese are a must. Skinning the tomatoes add an extra level of refinement.

4 large very ripe red tomatoes
200 g mozzarella cheese, finely sliced (see Chef's Tip)
Ina Paarman's Lemon & Black Pepper Seasoning
Ina Paarman's Classic Lemon Vinaigrette Dressing or a good olive oil
a handful of fresh basil leaves, finely snipped into tiny strips

Cut a shallow cross through the tomatoes at the base. Put them in a bowl and pour boiling water over. Leave for 3 minutes then drain, refresh under the cold tap and slip the skins off. Slice the tomatoes thinly.

All you do now is to arrange the slices of mozzarella and tomato on a serving dish and scatter with snipped basil leaves.

Just before serving, sprinkle with Lemon & Black Pepper seasoning and drizzle the Lemon Vinaigrette all over.

Serve with warm, crispy ciabatta bread (see Chef's Tip), and a dipping bowl of extra virgin olive oil.

 CHEF'S TIP:

SLICING MOZZARELLA

Place the mozzarella in the freezer for 30-40 minutes to firm and then slice with a potato peeler into thin strips.

WARMING CIABATTA
Wrap the bread in greaseproof paper or place inside a brown paper bag. Wet the outside of the paper by briefly flashing the wrapped bread under a cold tap. Bake the bread at 200ºC for 10-12 minutes.

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1 punnet rocket leaves
1 punnet radicchio or red lettuce
½ cup (125 ml) Ina Paarman's Classic Lemon Vinaigrette

Wash and remove any damaged or bruised leaves. Mix the leaves together and toss with the dressing just before serving.

 VARIATIONS:

Use any of the following: baby spinach, butter lettuce, sorrel leaves or young beetroot leaves.

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This recipe is a real party stopper and it keeps exceptionally well in the fridge for up to four days.

4 t (20 ml) best quality instant coffee granules
2 T (30 ml) boiling water
1 x 250 g Ina Paarman's Lemon Cheesecake Mix
1 cup (250 ml) cold tap water
150 g Albany dark chocolate, melted
1 cup (250 ml) fresh cream
125 g (1 packet) sponge fingers
½ cup (125 ml) coffee liqueur
1 t (5 ml) butter
50 g Albany dark chocolate

Dissolve the coffee granules in the boiling water, leave to cool. Sprinkle the cheesecake mixture over the cold water and beat until well mixed.

Break up the 150g of chocolate and melt slowly over warm water in pyrex bowl. Whip the cream until it holds its shape. With the same beaters re-beat the cheesecake mixture to fluff it up. Slowly beat in first the melted chocolate and then the coffee mixture. Fold in the whipped cream by hand using a spatula or metal spoon.

Toss the sponge fingers in the liqueur and layer the biscuits and tiramisu mixture in a rectangular dish about 22 cm x 22 cm. Build up 2 layers. Start with a layer of biscuits, coat with half of the tiramisu mixture. Repeat once more. Melt the butter and 50g of chocolate together in a bowl over boiling water. Immediately spoon chocolate into the corner of a small, sturdy plastic bag. Expel air and roll the top section of the plastic bag towards the filled corner. Snip a tiny hole in the corner and quickly pipe the melted chocolate, while still hot, over the tiramisu. Refrigerate overnight.

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