I don’t often eat winter greens such as kale, or cavolo nero. I find them a little tough and flavourless and much prefer softer greens such as spinach or spring greens.

I also have some disdain for the clean eating, superfood movement so have been avoiding kale on principle. Now I realise that I’ve been unfair to this lovely vegetable, so while I’m still not ready to oven bake it and call it ‘crisps’, I am happy to use it in this pasta dish, which was delicious.

Serves 8

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• onion 1 large, diced
• garlic 2 cloves, crushed
• thyme 2 sprigs, leaves picked
• white wine a glass
• ricotta 250g
• nutmeg a good grating
• winter greens or cavolo nero or kale tough stalk removed and chopped
• chopped tomatoes 400g tin
• bay leaf 1
• dried cannelloni tubes 200g
• mascarpone 250g
• parmesan, grana padano (or veggie alternative) 50g, grated

Instructions

1. Heat a knob of butter and a drizzle of olive oil in a large frying pan. Fry the onion until softened, then add half the garlic and all the thyme. Fry for another minute, then stir in the wine. Simmer until reduced by half, then add the ricotta and nutmeg and season. Stir in the greens and cook until wilted, adding a splash of water if you need to. Leave to cool a little.
2. Heat the oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Using a teaspoon, fill the cannelloni tubes with the mixture, and put in a single layer in an ovenproof dish.
3. Fry the remaining garlic in 1 tbsp oil for a minute, then add the chopped tomatoes and the bay leaf. Simmer for 10 minutes until the tomatoes have broken down, then add a splash of water to make a sauce. Season and spoon over the cannelloni tubes, covering them completely.
4. Mix the mascarpone with the parmesan and season. Dollop over the top of the cannelloni, then bake for 30-35 minutes until golden and bubbling. Eat now, or allow to cool completely, cover with foil and freeze. To reheat, defrost in the fridge overnight then bake again for 20-30 minutes until piping hot in the centre.

Notes

1. Make this vegetarian by omitting the parmesan and using a vegetarian alternative.