Tuesday 12 August 2014

Pumpkin and Spinach pasta Rotolo

  I watched Jamie Oliver make this a week or so ago. I love his new TV programme, 'Saving with Jamie', in fact I have always liked his casual style of cooking and have quite a few of his recipe books in my library. I have never considered myself a 'fancy' cook, I am more aligned to his style of cooking than Julia Childs!
  His new 'cooking demo place' is in an old rustic looking warehouse type building. You see the odd train sliding past.... And so I find myself checking out the 'bibs and bobs' hanging around in the background - and lose touch with whats going on in his demo, thank goodness for the rewind button!
  This recipe is my kind of dish. Easy to make, using inexpensive ingredients, and very impressive looking to plonk on the table for the family.
  I made it exactly to his specifications, but just added a little water to the tomato sauce the rotolo sat in. Quite rightly I thought it might dry out if the sauce did not come up more than half way.
  I also roasted the pumpkin in  big chunks, so much easier to handle for your filling.
  While aimed at vegetarians, I'm sure you could easily adapt the ingredients to include a bolognaise sauce in the 'roll ups'.
http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/vegetables-recipes/squash-spinach-pasta-rotolo
   At Jamie's suggestion, I used frozen spinach ( a first for me ) and at about $5.00 a packet it seemed an easier and quicker way to use spinach. Saves all that washing and 'destalking'. I will have it on hand in my freezer from now on.
This dish is easy to reheat the next day too.
I added a little more water and sauce, to come up two thirds of the pasta 'roll ups'


The fried sage on top is an especially nice touch, I love the stuff!