LOW CARB SPINACH AND RICOTTA CANNELLONI

 Low Carb Spinach and Ricotta Cannelloni: if you love cannelloni, this healthy recipe is what you need to satisfy those cravings. 4g carbs.

You might be feeling like you’ve been missing out since your keto lifestyle took over. In that case, this low carb spinach and ricotta cannelloni is just perfect.

Traditional cannelloni are pasta tubes you stuff with a filling of choice, that you then cover with a sauce and bake. However, pasta = wheat, which is  the keto nemesis. So how can you possibly savour a traditional spinach and ricotta cannelloni dish and still remain in ketosis?

Well, you can, and it’s not at all difficult. First of all, instead of using cannelloni tubes, you make pancakes with lupin flour: a grain free, healthy alternative to wheat that contains even less carbs that coconut flour. Double cream, cheese and plenty of butter increase the fat content. The result is absolutely divine and perfectly ketogenic!

Making this low carb spinach and ricotta cannelloni is a whole lot easier than you might think. Once you’re done with the pancakes, the remaining steps are really easy.

How to Make Low Carb Spinach and Ricotta Cannelloni

You will need 6 eggs for the pancakes, plus a small amount of whole milk, some double cream and lupin flour (N.B. Lupin flour can be difficult to source – see recipe links).

Cautionary warning: if you have a peanut allergy you may also have an allergic reaction to lupin. This isn’t the case with all individuals, but be aware of the possibility and use caution.

I presume you could replace lupin flour with the same quantity of fine almond flour (NOT ground almonds), or 5-10g coconut flour, but I haven’t tested either for this recipe, so I have no idea how the pancakes would turn out.

The filling consists of ricotta (surprise!), spinach (surprise again!), butter, Cheddar cheese, Parmesan cheese, more butter and seasonings.

The thickness of your lupin pancakes will depend on how much mix you pour for each one and on the size of the pancake pan itself. My pan is quite large and measures 29cm in diameter.

If you have a ‘flipping’ accident or the pancakes break as you transfer them to a plate to cool down, don’t panic and don’t throw them away in despair! You need to cut them into sections anyway, and it’s easy to ‘patch’ them if not perfect. Once you place the filling onto them, the ricotta-spinach mix will act as a ‘glue’ and you will be able to roll them up even with broken pieces. The ‘rolls’ don’t need to be perfect, either. As you place them in your baking dish, they will hold each other nicely in place.

My low carb spinach and ricotta cannelloni is an absolutely delicious bake, and very, very filling. So stop reminiscing and get cooking! I promise it will not disappoint!

Enjoy!

LOW CARB SPINACH AND RICOTTA CANNELLONI

 

Author: Antya

Nutrition

• Yield: 4

• Serving: 1
• Calories: 685

• Fat: 59g
• Net Carbs: 4g
• Protein: 30g

Recipe type: Main Course

Cuisine: Ketogenic. Low Carb. LCHF. Gluten Free. Grain Free. Vegetarian.

Prep time:  35 mins

Cook time:  20 mins

Total time:  55 mins

Print

Mouthwatering and fairly simple to make, my low carb spinach and ricotta cannelloni is perfect if you're keto or low carb minded.

Ingredients

• 6 medium eggs
• 20g lupin flour (U.S. option HERE) (world-wide delivery option HERE - use code QUEENKETO5 for discount at checkout)
• 2 tbsp whole milk
• 4 tbsp double cream
• 250g ricotta
• 100-120g unsalted butter
• 60g freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano (Parmesan)
• 100g mature Cheddar or similar cheese (freshly grated)
• 450g frozen spinach
• 1 garlic clove (minced)
• 20ml extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) (U.S. option HERE)
• fine Himalayan pink salt (U.S. option HERE)
• freshly ground black pepper
• cayenne pepper
• paprika
• nutmeg
• organic broth granules

Instructions

1. whisk eggs until tripled in volume.
2. add flour, milk, cream and ½ tsp salt; whisk again.
3. put a knob of butter in a large pancake pan or similar, turn heat on to medium, wait till the butter starts to sizzle then add ⅓ of the egg mix; cook until brown then flip over and cook the other side.
4. repeat twice more, stirring the mixture well before each use.
5. lay the pancakes on a flat plate on top of each other and set aside.
6. in a medium-large frying pan put a splash of olive oil and 40g of the butter, then add the spinach, garlic, ½ tsp salt, and generous sprinkles of cayenne pepper, black pepper, paprika, nutmeg and a light sprinkle of broth granules; cook until no moisture remains in the pan.
7. while the spinach cooks, mix ricotta, ¼ tsp nutmeg, ¼ tsp salt and a pinch of paprika; stir until smooth.
8. as soon as the spinach is cooked, and while still hot, add to it 25g butter, the ricotta mix, all the grated Cheddar and ½ of the Parmesan, mixing well; adjust salt and spices to your taste.
9. spread a generous layer of butter all over the sides and bottom of your oven dish (the one I used measures 28cm x 17cm).
10. cut the stacked pancakes across the middle, so you end up with 6 halves in total.
11. pre-heat oven to 180°C fan (200°C static).
12. spoon ⅙th of the spinach-ricotta mix onto each half pancake and and roll it up (don't worry if you have some broken pancake pieces, just 'patch them up' and you'll be able to roll them once the spinach mix is in place).
13. place the rolls into your oven dish, put slivers of butter on top of each roll then sprinkle remaining Parmesan all over.
14. bake for about 20-25 mins until golden brown.

Notes

If your pancake pan is smaller than the one I used (29cm diameter), you will probably obtain 4 or even 5 pancakes and may not even need to cut them across before filling and rolling.

Metric kitchen scales are an inexpensive yet invaluable gadget to enable accurate measurement of ingredients. Store them upright in a cupboard or over your worktop and they'll only take up a tiny bit of space. Click HERE for the ones I use in the UK. For U.S. option click HERE.

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Your feedback is important to me! Please leave a comment. If you make this recipe, post a photo on your favourite Socials with the hashtag #queenketo. Thank you! 🙂