• Aubergine cannelloni with goat’s cheese, pine nuts and baby spinach

    Serves: 4 – 6
    Cooking Time: 30 minutes

    Ingredients

    • 80ml olive oil
    • 8 purple aubergines, cut into 1cmthick sliced lengthways
    • 1 large onion, chopped
    • 2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
    • pinch ground nutmeg
    • 400g baby spinach + extra, to garnish
    • 50g pine nuts + extra, roasted, to garnish
    • 300g chevin goat’s cheese
    • salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
    • 125ml (½ cup) tomato passata

    Instructions

    1

    Preheat the oven to 180°C. Place 60ml (¼ cup) of the olive oil in a pan over medium-high heat, add the aubergine slices and fry for 5 minutes, turning halfway through the cooking time. Remove the aubergines from the pan and set aside. Add the remaining olive oil and onion to the pan and fry until soft, 8 minutes. Add the garlic and fry for a further 2 minutes. Stir in the nutmeg and remove from heat.

    2

    Mix the onion mixture, baby spinach, pine nuts and 200g of the goat’s cheese together in a bowl and season to taste.

    3

    Place a tablespoonful of the mixture on an aubergine slice and roll it up into a cannelloni. Repeat with the remaining mixture and aubergine slices.

    4

    Arrange the cannelloni in a deep baking dish, pour over the passata and bake in the oven, 15 minutes. Remove from oven, garnish with chunks of the remaining goat’s cheese, roasted pine nuts and baby spinach and serve hot.