Rotolo di Zucca e Ricotta

Well, this recipe certainly was a bit of work - but it was SO worth it. This dish is so pretty, and wonderful for impressing those dinner party guests. It's a lot of work, but the work isn't all that difficult. I love how Jamie Oliver writes, because it's like having a conversation with someone who's telling me how to make a specific dish. It's so easy to follow his instruction!

This is a rotolo of spinach, squash and ricotta. When I wiki'd "rotolo" to find you a more specific definition of what it is, I found that "Rotolo" is an Italian surname. Haha! So, I'll give you the Mere-finition, which is that this dish is a roulade of pasta. Normally, a roulade is made with a thin piece of meat rolled around some sort of stuffing such as vegetables or cheese. I replaced the meat with thick lasagna noodles, and voila, a rotolo!

Alright, here we go! I made my fresh pasta dough and left it to rest for the necessary 30 minutes. It was a bit sticky tonight, but after a little extra flour on my kneading surface, I evened it all out. I then moved on to my mise en place. The filling for the rotolo consists of butternut squash seasoned with fennel seeds, coriander seeds, chili powder, salt and pepper along with some wilted spinach, fresh oregano, garlic, butter and nutmeg. I also needed to get out my parmesan and ricotta. Finally, some extra butter and a nice handful of sage leaves, and my mise en place is complete!



Once everything was out and prepped, I preheated my oven to 425 degrees because I need to cook the squash. I dusted the squash pieces with the crushed coriander seeds, fennel seeds, chili powder, salt and pepper and tossed the squash in a snugly fit dish.





Once I got the squash in the oven (for 30 minutes - covered with a damp piece of wax paper), I started on the spinach since it was supposed to cool before use. I heated a nice glug of olive oil in a pan and added my sliced garlic and fresh oregano leaves.



Once that had sizzled a bit, I started adding the spinach and as it wilted, I continued to add more. I had two whole bags to get in there so slowly but surely wins the race. Keep the spinach leaves moving around with a tongs so that none of them burn, but as the leaves wilt, it makes more room to add more leaves.



Continue this way until all the spinach has wilted down. At this point, you can season with nutmeg, and a few clumps of butter. Always taste your food, as you are cooking - then you'll know if you need to add some salt and pepper to this before taking it off the heat. I added a little bit of each and then removed the spinach to a bowl to cool.



Once a half hour has passed, check on your squash. Remove the wax paper, toss them around a bit and put them back in for another 15 minutes - or until they are golden.



While the squash was finishing up, I used my pasta roller to make six long sheets of pasta. I laid them out on a dish towel (I would have preferred to use a white one - but I lucked out and nothing turned black at the end of this ordeal!). I used some water to stick the noodles together to make one long sheet.



Once the squash was finished, I removed it from the oven and spooned it across the long side of the noodle sheet.



I then sprinkled my cooled spinach around the rest of the sheet, leaving a 2 inch section at the top clear of any filling. That's the part that will tuck over to complete our rotolo.



From here, I sprinkled both ricotta cheese and shredded parmesan cheese on top of this mixture.



I used the edge of the towel to start my roll, and then continued tucking and rolling until I had one long roll of pasta and stuffing. Use a little bit of water on the top edge to stick it to the rest of the rotolo.



Once it was rolled, I put a pot of water on to boil. I didn't have a pot really big enough for this so I kind of had to wind it around the side of the pot I was working with. The best case scenario would probably be an oblong-shaped fish pot, but we work with what we've got right!? While the water was boiling, the recipe instructed me to roll this up in a dish towel. I didn't have a nice, thin, white dish towel like Jamie did in the pictures, so I made do with what I had. I was a little concerned that my pasta would come out dyed a little black, but luckily, that did not happen! I tied the ends with some kitchen twine.



Once the water was boiling I placed this in the pot as best I could, and then placed a plate on top to hold it under the water since it tends to want to float to the surface. I left this to simmer for 25 minutes.

Meanwhile, I needed to clarify some butter by placing it in a very low heated oven, and allowing it to melt there. Once melted, I separated (as best I could) the white parts of the butter from the clear. I added the clear portion to a pan which I heated more aggressively. Once it was hot enough, I threw my sage leaves into the butter and allowed them to lightly fry.



I pulled the leaves out and let them drain on a paper towel. I kept the now sage-flavored butter over a low heat so that it didn't start to congeal. I pulled the rotolo out of the boiling water with some silicon potholder gloves and unwrapped it onto a cutting board. Because I had to curve it to get it in the pot, it had burst open in a few places but not too badly. I sliced the rotolo into generous serving portions and plated! I decided to serve this beautiful looking roulade with an arugula and radicchio salad, dressed with only some balsamic vinegar and olive oil. I seasoned it with a little salt and pepper and tossed it with a handful of shredded parmesan.



This isn't a dish you see on every Italian restaurant menu, but I'm sure glad it was on mine! :)