Ingredients
- 1kg spinach
- 1 garlic clove, finely sliced
- 50g butter
- 2 tsp chopped marjoram or oregano
- 500g ricotta
- 50g parmesan (or vegetarian alternative), grated, plus a little extra to serve
- ½ quantity Theo’s pasta dough (see tip below)
- good-quality olive oil, for drizzling
For the simple tomato sauce
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 garlic clove, finely sliced
- 1 x 400g can chopped tomatoes
You will need
- a pasta machine
Method
- STEP 1
Begin by making the Simple tomato sauce, heat the olive oil in a saucepan, add the garlic clove and cook until just softened. Add the chopped tomatoes and season. Cook slowly for 25 mins, stirring now and then, until very thick. Do this a day or two ahead of assembling the rotolo, or freeze it for up to 2 months.
- STEP 2
Wilt the spinach in a pan over a medium heat, then leave to cool. Squeeze well to remove the excess water, then roughly chop the spinach. Season and leave to cool completely.
- STEP 3
Gently fry the garlic in the butter until softened, then remove from the heat and add the marjoram. Tip into a bowl and add the spinach, ricotta and Parmesan.
- STEP 4
Roll out the pasta (see step-by-step images). Cut the sheets into 3 or 4 pieces, each roughly 40cm long, and place them on a white tea towel. Using a little water and a pastry brush, stick the sheets together, allowing a 1cm overlap.
- STEP 5
Using a spatula, spread the filling over the pasta as evenly as possible, leaving a 1cm border around the edge.
- STEP 6
Fold over the edge of the pasta nearest to you and, using the tea towel and the weight of the pasta, roll it away from you like you would a Swiss roll.
- STEP 7
Brush the open edge of the pasta with a little water and press together to seal.
- STEP 8
Wrap the pasta roll tightly in the tea towel and tie a piece of string round it every 10cm or so (or use a butcher’s knot – see step-by-step images). Tie the ends with string to secure them, leaving a long piece of string at each end to act as a handle.
- STEP 9
Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil (a fish kettle is ideal, but a deep roasting tin filled with water works well too) and cook the rotolo for 20 mins. Remove from the water and leave to cool. Heat oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5.
- STEP 10
Gently unwrap the rotolo and cut it into 3cm slices. Arrange the slices in a baking dish. Spoon over the Simple tomato sauce, sprinkle with Parmesan and drizzle with a little olive oil. Bake for 15 mins until the pasta is hot and crisping around the edges.