Happy Valentines Nonno!

So valentines has come around again, it's that time of year when we get all "yummy"  towards our friends, lovers, husbands, wives, boyfriends and girlfriends. This will be my first Valentines as a wife, and Stuart is taking me out for a special dinner in Canary Wharf. Many people think valentines is cheesy, tacky and I'll quote the hipsters " too commercial".

To be fair, for years I have been tooting a similar tune but deep down I love it, due to the nostalgia it holds closer to home. A special baby was born on this day in 1936 in Cornuda, Treviso Italia, his mother named him Bruno Valentino Cadorin. Later on his life Bruno moved to Australia meet his Italian wife Edda, and they started a family 2 boys & 2 girls.

The eldest, my dad or as I like to call him padre, and the next in line is my uncle Alan, who is born also on Valentines day! They had two more daughters, Sonia then Jenny who went on to start their own families. Jenny has son Fabian, and guess what, he is also born on Valentines day! What are the chances? 3 generations!

In addition to all the birthdays my dad is a romantic, and didn't want to be left out of the Valentines spirit, so he married my mum on Valentines day in 1982 and they had 3 kids. Sadly their are no more birthdays, but to top it off, when I was little I asked my mum what my name would be if I was a boy, guess what! My middle name would have been Valentino. - True story that.

So with love in the air & Italian family history on the agenda. It would only be fitting to share an Italian recipe this Valentine's Day.

Spinach Cannelloni in Arrabiata sauce. 

Preparation time 20 minutes

Cannelloni:
1 bag of spinach
1 packet of fresh lasagna strips
1 tub of fresh ricotta
Seasoning ( salt, pepper, oregano, mixed Italian herbs )
1/2 bag of Mozzarella cheese

Arrabiata Sauce:
1 cube of chicken stock
2 Bay leaves
1 white onion diced
3 cloves of garlic
2 sprigs of fresh basil
1 Tablespoon of Chilli flakes
1 tin or box of chopped tomatoes
2 Tablespoons of tomato paste

Sauce first :
Sauce is best when cooked over a few hours, or even the day before. If time is limited a quick and easy sauce to cook is Arrabiata ala Cass

Fry off diced onion & garlic, pinch of pepper & salt in olive oil until the onion is golden
Stir in chopped tomatoes, tomato paste, chicken stock, drop in the bay leaves and tear up the basil and leave to simmer while preparing the cannelloni, chilli flakes

Boil spinach over a medium heat, once wilted drain, then dice up finely, add to bowl and mix in the ricotta and pepper. - It will kinda look like seaweed


To roll the lasagna sheets ( ensuring they don't break) pour some warm water into a pot and very quickly submerge the sheet in the hot water. Be sure not to leave it in too long as it will be more likely to tear when handing it.
Place the sheet on a flat surface add a good portion of the ricotta mixture and spread the width of the sheet and roll, after the first roll add some extra mixture thinly to the remainder of the sheet and roll up tight.

Add rolls to cooking tray, once full pour your magic sauce over, place in the oven to cook with mozzarella cheese. Leave to cook for 40 minutes on high.

And serve up with a light salad and a voila!
Bellissimo. Now go out there and say ti amo to someone you love.

I may not blog all the time but make sure to catch my pinterest for more 

simple recipes and instagram feed.

See ya later lovers

Cass xx