A low carb, gluten free version of a vegetarian party favourite. With more protein and healthy fats, these spinach and ricotta rolls will help you to actually feel satisfied – meaning less snacking and better balanced blood sugars. These rolls don’t contain any of the preservatives or fillers of store-bought variety and can be made ahead of time and stored in the freezer to bake later (just like store-bought!).
Spinach and Ricotta Rolls
Serves:16 rolls | Prep time: 1.5 hours | Cook time: 25 minutes
Ingredients
Pastry
2 eggs (for pastry)
170g almond meal
200g mozzarella
40g butter, melted
Filling
250g frozen spinach, defrosted
½ zucchini, grated
200g ricotta
200g mozzarella
½ tsp nutmeg
1 egg (for filling)
salt and pepper
Method
*Make the pastry: separate one egg – reserving the egg yolk for later in a small bowl.
*Place the egg white, remaining egg for pastry, almond flour, mozzarella and butter into a large bowl and mix well.
*Bring the dough together to form a ball and cover with cling film – place in the fridge for an hour to rest.
*While that’s resting, preheat the oven to fan forced 200°C/220°C/450°F/Gas mark 7.
*Make the filling: Place the spinach and grated zucchini into a sieve and squeeze out some of the water – it doesn’t have to be as much as possible, just remove some.
*Into a large bowl, place the veggies and remaining ingredients – mix well.
*Place into the fridge until ready to make your rolls.
*Once the pastry has rested for at least an hour, pull it out and portion into quarters. Between two sheets of baking paper, roll the pastry into rectangles about 3-5mm thick, approximately 16cm long and 12cm wide.
*Spoon a quarter of the ricotta mix lengthways along the middle of the pastry. Roll the pastry over (like sushi), with the seam on the bottom. Transfer to a lined baking tray. Repeat with the remaining pastry and ricotta.
*Brush the sausage rolls with the remaining egg yolk and sprinkle over some sesame seeds. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown.
*Cut the rolls into four and serve warm!
For more healthy lifestyle tips and recipes, head to https://thefast800.com
Gabrielle Newman is the Nutritionist and Recipe Developer for The Fast 800, an online programme devoted to helping people live healthier, better quality lives by offering healthy recipes, meal plans, organisational resources and a science-based framework for a healthy lifestyle.
