Salmon and Aubergine Cannelloni

I made this beautiful cannelloni bake last week. It was a bit fiddly to make but delicious. It did start to go brown very quickly so I would check on it and cover with foil if it looks brown on top before the cooking time is up.

Salmon and Aubergine Cannelloni (from Good Food Magazine November 2011)
(Serves 6)

2 tbsp olive oil
2 onions, halved and sliced
2 aubergine, sliced and diced
1kg carton passata
200ml dry white wine
3 tbsp capers
1 tbsp caster sugar
500g tub mascarpone
300ml milk
145g tub fresh pesto
3 egg, beaten
6 salmon fillet, skinned
12 sheets fresh lasagne
2 x 400g bags spinach
50g Parmesan, grated

Heat the oil in a large pan and fry the onions for 10 mins, until starting to turn golden. Stir in the aubergines, then fry 5 mins more to soften them. Pour in the passata and wine, then stir in the capers, sugar, 1 tsp salt and some black pepper. Cover and cook for 20 mins.

Meanwhile, put 250g mascarpone into a bowl with the milk, pesto and eggs, and beat until smooth.

Halve each salmon fillet to make 2 long pieces. Spread 1 tbsp of the remaining mascarpone over each pasta sheet, add a piece of salmon, then season and roll up.

Wash and wilt the spinach in a large pan (you don’t need to add oil), then squeeze as much liquid as you can from it – this is important as otherwise the pasta bake will be too wet. Spread the spinach on the base of a large lasagne dish or roasting tin, measuring approx 27 x 35cm.

Arrange the salmon and lasagne parcels on the spinach, then pour over the tomato and aubergine sauce. Carefully pour over the pesto and mascarpone layer.

Preheat the oven to 190C, sprinkle the Parmesan over the mascarpone and bake for 40 mins until bubbling. Serve with a green salad.