Spinach & Ricotta Roll

Everyone likes lasagna, right? But you can't have lasagna all the time. It gets samey, I think, and I actually think there's a big temptation to put too much cheese and sauce on lasagna. But, as I say, you want something that's kind of like it. That's where the Spinach & Ricotta roll come in.

You first need a big sheet of pasta. Of course, it's a lot easier to go buy fresh pasta from an Italian deli, if

1) you happen to have an Italian deli around
2) it happens to sell big sheets of freshly made pasta

Barring both of these, though, you'll need to make your own. No, no. No running away. It's worth the effort, if you can just do it right.

Pasta is actually an amazingly easy thing to make. There are a lot of recipes, but for now I use this one:

Pasta Sheet

Combine 500g/1 lb of strong flour (hopefully the finely ground Italian Type 00, but if not either semolina flour or plain flour will be fine) with five of the freshest eggs you can find. Splurge on the eggs. I don't really care about chickens on a humanitarian basis, but it's a simple fact that more or less happy chickens produce delicious eggs. Dump most of the flour on a surface, poke a considerable well in the centre, and break all the eggs into that well. Break up the yolks with your hands, and slowly incorporate the flour into the eggs. Knead the mixture quite a bit- egg being what it is, it takes a while for the ingredients to really mix. Don't add any more liquid! If it seems too dry, keep mixing. It'll eventually moisterize. When it's smooth and silky, wrap the pasta in cling film and put in the fridge for about an hour. At the end of that time, take out, and either put it through a pasta machine to the thinnest setting, or roll it out by hand as thin as you can get it. Put some cling film on it to avoid drying out, and put aside for a moment.

The filling

The filing is so simple I hardly know what to say. Pour boiling water over half a pound (250g) of spinach. Dry. Dump in a bowl with the same weight of full fat ricotta, if you can find it (otherwise semi skim will do). Mix with salt and pepper, and maybe nutmeg if you like it (I don't understand nutmeg and spinach. I know people like it, but I just don't see the point). There you are. Done.

Construction

Empty contents of bowl onto pasta sheet. Roll up into a long sausage. Roll it all into foil very tightly. I actually used several layers to make sure it was watertight, but if you're less incompetent then me, feel free to use just one.

The cooking

Put the foil sausage into a pot of boiling water for about twenty minutes. Turn off the heat, and let it all cool in the water. Once it's reached a decent temperature, take the foil off, cut the pasta roll into slices, and put into a casserole with some pasta sauce (either stuff you've made or [gack] bought). Cook for about ten minutes until the sauce is bubbling, remove from oven, and serve with liberal doses of good parmesan. It's really quite delightful.

A Tip for the Doofus Chef

Erm. Remember to make the pasta roll small enough so that it fits into your pot. Ahem. I can't imagine who would have made such a mistake.