Slimming World Syn Free Spinach and Mushroom Cannelloni

As promised its another Slimming World recipe and another first for me again. However I have now made it four times, I loved it that much!

This recipe is from the Slimming World magazine, July 2010 edition, page 74 - 75

Ingredients
9oz/255g chopped frozen spinach, defrosted
Fry light
8oz/227 fat -free natural cottage cheese
2 egg yokes
2 crushed garlic cloves
4oz/113 g button mushrooms, finely chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
1 red pepper, deseeded and finely chopped
6oz/170g reduced-fat cheddar cheese, grated
small bunch of basil leaves, chopped (reserve some for garnish)
pinch of nutmeg (makes a big difference to the flavour)
salt & pepper
250g pack of dried cannelloni
1lb 8oz.567g passata (ideally with onion & garlic, but I used plain)

Green salad to serve

Syns
Extra Easy Free*
Green Free

*Add 5.5 Syns if you are not using the reduced fat Cheddar Cheese and a Healthy Extra

Method

Pre-heat oven to 200c/400F/gas mark 6. Squeeze out the excess water from the spinach and spray a medium sized baking dish with Fry Light

Put the spinach, cottage cheese, egg yokes, garlic, mushrooms, onion, pepper, half the cheese and half the basil in a bowl. Add the nutmeg, season well and mix together. (use a very big bowl!)

The recipe says use a piping bag (or teaspoon) carefully fill the cannelloni tubes with the mixture.  I didn't have a piping bag, the teaspoon was too fiddly, so I used my hands. Very messy, but satisfying once done. I promise you, its worth the effort! The kids might enjoy doing this bit for you!

Place the filled tubes in the baking dish in a single layer and pour over the passata making sure all the cannelloni is completely covered.

Sprinkle over the remaining cheese and chopped basil. Cover with foil and cook for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 20 minutes, or until the pasta is tender and the top is golden.

Garnish with reserved basil leaves and finish with some black pepper. Divide between four plates and serve with a green salad.

I have made this up the day before to save time & cooked it the next! It tasted even better! And an added bonus is its easier to portion up than lasagna!

Rubbish photo, promise it doesn't do it justice!