Pumpkin cannelloni with mushrooms and spinach

Ingredients for 2 servings:

• 200 g pumpkin flesh
• 100 g cottage cheese
• 1 tsp thyme leaves, fresh or sage leaves
• 8 cannelloni, approx.
• 250 g mushrooms, brown
• 150 g fresh leaf spinach
• 20 g butter
• 20 g flour
• 250 ml milk, approx.
• some nutmeg, freshly grated
• 50 g cheese, grated
• 50 g cheese, grated, approx., for sprinkling
• some oil for frying
• some salt and pepper from the mill

Instructions

Working time approx. 1 hour; Cooking/baking time approx. 30 minutes; Total time approx. 1 hour 30 minutes

filled with pumpkin and cottage cheese

Halve the pumpkin and scrape out the seeds and fibers with a spoon. Cut one half into thumb-thick wedges, peel, and dice about 200g of pumpkin flesh. Preheat the oven to 200°C (top/bottom heat). Heat a little oil in a pan and fry the pumpkin cubes until they begin to brown slightly. Season with salt and pepper. Arrange the pumpkin cubes side by side in a shallow baking dish and bake for about 20-30 minutes, until tender. Mash the pumpkin cubes with a fork and let cool. The pumpkin puree can still be a bit chunky. Pluck the thyme leaves from the stems or finely chop the sage leaves. Mix the cottage cheese with the pumpkin puree and about 1 teaspoon of thyme or sage, and season generously with salt and pepper. While the pumpkin is in the oven, clean and slice the mushrooms, wash the spinach, and let it drain. Heat a little oil in a pan, fry the mushrooms, season with salt, and continue frying until the liquid has evaporated. Add the spinach leaves and let it wilt, adding more seasoning if desired. Once the liquid has evaporated, transfer the vegetables to a baking dish and spread them out on the bottom. Fill approximately 6-8 cannelloni with the pumpkin mixture and press them lightly into the vegetables. It’s best to use a type that doesn’t need to be pre-cooked. There should be a little air space between the individual rolls so that the sauce can flow in later. For the sauce, melt the butter in a wide saucepan, add the flour, and whisk until the mixture is smooth. It should turn white; do not brown. Stir in 250 ml of milk in two batches. Season the sauce with freshly grated nutmeg and salt, and thin it out a little more if it’s too thick. Melt 50 g of grated cheese in the sauce, then spread the sauce over the cannelloni. Sprinkle with 50g of grated cheese and bake in the oven at 180-190°C (top/bottom heat) for about 30-40 minutes. I used a candy pumpkin from the pumpkin farm. I usually prepare a larger batch of baked pumpkin, transfer it to tightly sealed containers once it’s cooled, and store it in the refrigerator until ready to use, e.g., for salads or pasta dishes.