This gorgeous vegetarian dish is a real crowd pleaser, it is a great festive pasta dish filled with spinach, tomatoes, olives, chickpeas and cheese. Placing the cannelloni tubes standing up on their ends it gives a beautiful textured crunch and honeycomb like appearance. Its worth a try!

You will need:

Lamb Brand Cinnamon Sticks 1

Lamb Brand Nutmeg 1

Lamb Brand Cooking Salt to taste

Lamb Brand Ground Black Pepper to taste

Giglio Cannelloni Tubes 500g

Fiamma Crushed Tomatoes 3x400g

Fiamma Tinned Chickpeas 2 x410g, drained

Hulala Single Cream 300ml

Fresh Spinach 500g, washed

Sour Cream 400ml

Parmesan Cheese 75g, freshly grated

Feta Cheese 75g

Cloves Garlic 2, peeled and chopped

Red Onions 2, peeled and finely chopped

Medium Carrots 2, peeled and finely chopped

Celery Sticks 2, trimmed and finely chopped

Small Red Chilli 1, crumbled

Lemon 1

Large Handful Black Olives, de-stoned and finely chopped

Small Bunch Fresh Rosemary

Olive Oil

All you have to do is:

1. Preheat the oven to 180ºC. Heat a large saucepan over a low to medium heat and add a splash of olive oil. Tip in the garlic, onion, carrot and celery and fry gently until soft and just beginning to brown. Now add the chili, cinnamon stick and half of the olives and cook for a few more minutes.

2. Pick the tips off of the rosemary sprigs and keep 12 or so back, then pick and finely chop the rest of the leaves. Add them to the pan with the tomatoes, chickpeas and a splash of water. Cook gently, stirring occasionally, for about 20 minutes, until the mixture has reduced slightly and it’s tasting fantastic. Taste, and season as necessary. Pick out and reserve the cinnamon stick.

3. While that’s cooking, heat another large pan and add a splash of oil and the spinach, and cook until wilted. Drain in a colander, pressing lightly with the tongs to get rid of any excess moisture, and once it’s cool enough to handle, roughly chop. Season a little nutmeg and pop to one side.

4. In a mixing bowl, mix together the cream, sour cream and most of the Parmesan. Season with a good pinch of nutmeg and a pinch of salt and pepper then finely grate in the zest of your lemon. Squeeze in a little juice; give it a quick mix and pop to one side.

5. Rub the inside of your casserole pan with olive oil then spoon in half of the tomato stew. Prepare some boiling water and dip the cannelloni for not more then 5 minutes. Get them out and let them dry. Stand the cannelloni tubes upright in the mix, making sure they’re nice and snug. Press them down with the palm of your hands until they touch the bottom of the pan.

6. Sprinkle over half of the spinach and crumble over half of the feta, then spoon half of the creamy sauce on top. Give the pan a bit of a shake so everything settles in and around the tubes, then spoon in the rest of the tomato stew. Scatter over the remaining spinach and feta, then sprinkle with the rest of the olives. Cover the lot with the remaining creamy sauce and push the cinnamon stick down the side to flavor the pasta.

7. Poke the reserved rosemary tops down into the tops of the cannelloni tubes so they stand upright then scatter with the remaining Parmesan. Add more ground nutmeg, then bake in the oven for about 35 to 40 minutes until cooked through, browned and bubbling.