Main Vegetarian Supper

Pumpkin & Chestnut Cannelloni

Comforting and a little bit festive, this baked cannelloni would make a great veggie main course for a wintry dinner table. Serve with a radicchio salad

15 minutes prep, 1 hour, 10 minutes cook

Serves 4

Ingredients

4 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for greasing

½ onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, crushed

10g sage, leaves picked and chopped (reserve a few whole to garnish)

1 x 425g can pumpkin purée

50g vacuum-packed chestnuts, chopped

8 black olives, pitted and chopped

¼ tsp crushed chilli flakes

30g Parmesan, freshly grated

70g ricotta

12 dried cannelloni tubes

30g fresh breadcrumbs

Sea salt and black pepper

For the sauce:

700ml milk

3½ tbsp plain flour

50g unsalted butter

50g ricotta

50g Parmesan, freshly grated

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C/Fan 160°C/Gas 4. Lightly oil a 26 x 18cm baking dish. Place a medium frying pan on a medium heat. Add 2 tbsps of the oil, the onion, garlic and chopped sage. Sauté for 5–10 minutes until softened and starting to turn golden.

Tip into a mixing bowl and add the pumpkin purée, chestnuts, olives, chilli flakes, Parmesan and ricotta. Mix, season with salt and pepper and place to one side. For the sauce, put the milk, flour and butter in a medium saucepan on a medium heat. Whisk for 5–10 minutes until thickened. Stir in the ricotta and most of the Parmesan.

Spoon half the sauce into the baking dish. Pipe the filling into each pasta tube (use a freezer bag with a corner snipped off as a piping bag), arrange in the dish and cover with the remaining sauce. Sprinkle over the remaining Parmesan, cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes.

Toss the breadcrumbs with 1 tbsp olive oil. Remove the foil, scatter over the breadcrumbs, then return to the oven for a final 10–15 minutes until golden. Meanwhile, heat the remaining 1 tbsp oil in a frying pan, add the whole sage leaves, fry for a few seconds until crisp, then drain on a piece of kitchen paper. Remove the bake from the oven, allow to sit for 5 minutes, then serve topped with the fried sage leaves.