Squash & spinach pasta rotolo

Name: Squash & spinach pasta rotolo
Cook time: 140 min
Total time: 140 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 1 butternut squash (roughly 1.2kg); 1 red onion; olive oil; 1 teaspoon dried thyme; 500g frozen spinach; 1 whole nutmeg, for grating; 4 cloves of garlic; 1 x 700ml jar of passata; 6 large fresh pasta sheets (roughly 15cm x 20cm each); 50g feta cheese; 20g Parmesan cheese; optional: a few sprigs of fresh sage

Golden, crispy and delicious

Vegetarian

2 hrs 20 mins

Not Too Tricky

serves 4

About the recipe

Rotolo is definitely one of the more unusual pasta dishes that you'll see – many people have never eaten it before. The way I've prepared mine means it kind of feels like eating a lasagne or a cannelloni, but it looks really pretty and you get the gnarly crispy bits of pasta on the top, complemented by the softer pasta hiding underneath the sauce.

nutrition per serving

Calories

20%

Fat

15%

Saturates

23%

Sugars

29%

Salt

25%

Protein

35%

Carbs

23%

Fibre

of an adult’s reference intake

Recipe From

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Ingredients

1 butternut squash (roughly 1.2kg)

1 red onion

olive oil

1 teaspoon dried thyme

500g frozen spinach

1 whole nutmeg, for grating

4 cloves of garlic

1 x 700ml jar of passata

6 large fresh pasta sheets (roughly 15cm x 20cm each)

50g feta cheese

20g Parmesan cheese

optional: a few sprigs of fresh sage

Top Tip

Pumpkin or sweet potato would work really well in place of the squash.

Method

Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/gas 4.
Cook the squash whole on a roasting tray for around 1 hour 30 minutes, then remove from the oven.
Meanwhile, peel and roughly chop the onion, put it into a medium pan on a medium-low heat with a lug of oil, the thyme and a pinch of salt and pepper, and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Stir in the frozen spinach, cover with a lid and allow to slowly cook for another 15 minutes, or until the liquid has evaporated, then remove from the heat.
Cut the squash in half, discard the seeds and skin, then mash up with a fork. Keeping them separate, season both the squash and spinach to perfection with sea salt, black pepper and a grating of nutmeg.
Peel and finely slice the garlic, then put it into a shallow 28cm casserole pan on a medium heat with a splash of oil and fry for a couple of minutes, or until lightly golden.
Pour in the passata, then add a splash of water to the empty jar, swirl it around and pour it into the pan. Bring to the boil, simmer for just 3 minutes, then season to perfection.
On a lean work surface, lay out the pasta sheets facing lengthways away from you.
Working quickly so your pasta doesn't dry out, brush them with water, then evenly divide and spread the squash over the sheets. Sprinkle over the cooked spinach and crumble over the feta.
Roll up the sheets and cut each one into 4 chunks, then place side by side in the tomato sauce. Finely grate over the Parmesan, then pick the sage leaves (if using), toss in a little oil and scatter over the top.
Bake for 35 to 40 minutes at the bottom of the oven until golden and crisp. Delicious served with a fresh green salad.

I like to make pasta dough from scratch and roll it out myself for this dish, but shop-bought fresh sheets will work just as well, if you prefer. Simply blanch them in a pan of boiling water for 20 seconds before using.

Swap out the spinach for whatever greens you’ve got: think chard, kale, rocket or a mixture.

If you’re out of Parmesan, just swap in a bit of Cheddar cheese instead.

I’ve used passata here, but tinned plum or cherry tomatoes would be absolutely fine.