Chicken & Spinach pancake cannelloni

I had some leftover roast chicken in the fridge and thought of making a cannelloni type dish with those leftovers. I thought it would go perfectly with some fresh spinach we bought from a roadside seller on our latest little adventure to Old Dir’iyyah this weekend.

I’m also thinking this recipe would be perfect for using up some of that inevitably, leftover turkey roast this Christmas!

For the pancakes:

1 egg

100g plain flour

300ml milk

pinch of salt

Vigorously beat the egg, sifted flour and about 50ml of the milk in a bowl before adding the remaining milk and beating well.

Heat a non-stick frying pan on a high heat, spray with oil just before adding the pancake batter and make 8 pancakes from this batter. Allow pancakes to cool.

For the filling:

1 tbsp oil

80g grated onion

1 teaspoon minced garlic

150g finely chopped pre-cooked chicken

100g finely chopped pre-cooked spinach

100g grated Emmental (or any other hard cheese such as Cheddar)

2 tablespoons heavy cream

salt and pepper to taste

Heat the oil and then add the onion and garlic and fry until soft.

Add the onion mixture into a bowl with the cooked, chopped chicken and spinach and mix well. Add the cheese and cream and incorporate. Add salt and freshly milled pepper according to taste.

For the creamy Alfredo sauce:

50g butter

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1 cup/240ml of cream and milk (about half of each but for a richer sauce, use all cream)

40g cream cheese

50g freshly grated Parmesan or finely grated Cheddar (I used Cheddar)

freshly milled black pepper

Melt the butter with the garlic in a small pan, add the remaining ingredients and keep stirring until the sauce is thickened.

To assemble:

Divide the filling mixture between the 8 pancakes (about 45g of filling per pancake) and roll up.

Arrange the pancakes in a rectangular Pyrex dish. I lined mine with a spoonful or so of pasta sauce to prevent the pancakes from sticking.

Spoon a little tomatoe pasta sauce (such as Dolmio) over the pancakes – about half a cup.

Pour the Alfredo sauce over the pancakes. Finish off with 50g of shredded Cheddar and bake in the oven at 350F/180C/gas4 for about 20 mins and then turn the heat right up and bake until golden and bubbly.