Sometimes there is nothing more comforting than a warm and golden, bubbling pasta dish. It's often a great "go to" dinner when you don't have a lot of time to think and let's face it, pasta is always a crowd pleaser! Using your Combi-Steam, it is possible to make a pasta bake without pre-cooking the dried pasta provided you add a little extra stock or liquid into the recipe for the pasta to soak up. To cook a dish like this always use your Combination Steam function with the Steam set to around 80% (or Hot Air+Steaming) at the same temperature as you would normally bake your pasta.

Some brands of Combi-Steam will provide you with a cookbook that offers pre-programmed recipes designed especially for your oven which is something to look out for if you are looking to purchase.

Hopefully at this point you'll be happy to hear that the Queen has a pasta recipe of my own to share. It's a yummy cannelloni whipped up from scratch using Combination Steam (or Hot Air+Steaming) and using fresh lasagne sheets, so minus the hassle of trying to get the filling into those little tubes! I'm not sure who invented those dried tubes but if they're rich because of it I'm a little dismayed! I love cannelloni because I get a pasta fix but it doesn't leave me feeling bloated because you don't actually eat a large amount of pasta due to the thin sheets. It’s a win win!

This is a great recipe to get the kids involved in too. They'll love mixing the filling and rolling up the cannelloni. And here's the kicker - it's also an easy way to sneak some greens into them as they'll never taste the difference.

Sweet Potato, Spinach & Ricotta Cannelloni
Serves 4-6

Ingredients:
375g pkt fresh lasagne sheets*
1 large sweet potato (peeled and diced into rough 2cm chunks)
6 button mushrooms (finely sliced) - optional
150g bag baby spinach leaves
400g fresh ricotta cheese*
½ cup grated parmesan
¾ cup grated tasty or mozzarella cheese
700g bottle tomato passata
2 cloves garlic (crushed)
3 tbs dried oregano
2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tbs olive oil
1 tbs brown sugar
S&P

Method:

1. Line a baking tray with baking paper. Spread out the sweet potato and mushrooms (if using) on the tray, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle over 1 tbs of the oregano and all the nutmeg. Season well with salt and pepper. Place the tray into the Combi-Steam. Select Combination Steam (Hot Air+Steaming). Set the temperature to 200°C. (For variable Steam set to 20%) Cook for 10 minutes or until tender.

2. Meanwhile remove the lid from the passata bottle and add the remaining oregano with the garlic, brown sugar and a good pinch of salt and pepper to the bottle. Replace the lid securely and shake to combine. Set aside.

3. When the sweet potato is tender, lay the spinach on top. Close the door of the Combi-Steam and cook for another 2 minutes or until just wilted.

4. Remove the veggies from the oven (leave it going at this stage) and place into a mixing bowl. Add the ricotta and parmesan and mix until well combined with a wooden spoon or clean hands.

5. Pour enough of the passata sauce into a large flat bottomed baking dish to just cover the base (probably about ⅓ the bottle). Add ¼ cup water to the dish and mix to combine.

6. Separate the lasagne sheets carefully.*

7. Place a line (like a fat sausage) of the filling along the short side of one lasagne sheet. Roll it over to enclose with an overlap of around 1.5cm. Trim with a knife and lay the overlapped side down into the sauce in the dish.

8. Continue with remaining sheets & filling. Depending on the size of your dish you should be able to make 10-12 tubes. As you go you can give them a little wiggle up to keep them nice and close together to help you maximise your space.

9. Pour the remaining passata sauce over the top, sprinkle with the grated tasty/mozzarella cheese and place back into the Combi-Steam. (For variable steam adjust to 40%)

10. Cook for 20 minutes (or until pasta is tender when you pop a knife into it).*

11. Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 10 minutes before serinvg as desired.

Oh and if you want to serve some garlic bread….buy a good commercial variety (or make your own) and pop it onto a tray lined with baking paper (don't wrap it in foil!) and add it to the oven while the cannelloni is cooking in Step 10. It will take around 10 minutes if fresh or 15-20 if frozen. Once you are happy with it, remove it and wrap in foil to keep warm before serving!

Notes:
*If your lasagne sheets are a bit hard to separate pop them into the Combi-Steam on the Steam function at 40°C (40%) in the packet for 10-15 mins to soften up. Check this before you start and do this step before anything else. Then just set aside.
*Buy fresh ricotta from the deli over the stuff in tubs - it has much less "liquid" in it so makes a creamier filling. You can freeze it too and defrost using steam at 40 degrees (pop it in with the pasta at the start!)
*Substitute baby spinach for any greens - try finely chopped silver beet, English spinach leaves or even chopped kale.
*If the cannelloni looks too moist you can turn the Steam down or off to finish for a further 5 minutes.

V-ZUG/Wolf only Option:
In a V-ZUG or Wolf Combi-Steam you could use BakeOMatic - Baked Dish or Gratin setting at Medium Brown in Step 9. Your oven will need to be cool to do this so turn off the Combi-Steam at the end of the Step 3 and leave the door open to cool down. It should not show residual heat on the display before you use BakeOMatic.

Hope you enjoy this one. You can substitute the sweet potato for pumpkin if you like but I would use a butternut as sometimes other varieties may be a bit "watery".

Give it a go and let me know how it goes. I'd love to hear what you think!

Happy Combi-Steaming!

Yours in the kitchen,

The CSQ. x