Spinach Roulade filled with Mascarpone Cheese & Sun Blush tomatoes

This is such a lovely recipe. I like to make 2 or 3 spinach roulades at a time and keep the spares in the freezer. The filling is Italian inspired but I often fill them with  smoked salmon & Philly blitzed together with a little lemon juice and dill. Just replace the parmesan with cheddar in the recipe if doing so.
This makes a perfect starter served warm or cold  or a delightful canapé if sliced thinly.   

400g spinach washed & drained

5 large eggs,

200g tub Mascarpone                                                                                                                                                                                                               

3 tbsp self-raising flour

3oz grated parmesan or peccarino 

a good grating of nutmeg

 12 sunblush or sundred tomatoes chopped  

4 cornichons or 1 larger gherkin finely chopped

1 tbsp capers rinsed and chopped

1 tbsp finely sliced basil leaves                                                                

extra finely grated parmesan for finishing

seasoning                                                                                                           

1. Heat oven to 190C/fan 170C/gas 5 and line a Swiss roll tin (23 x 32cm) with parchment paper. Sprinkle over a little grated parmesan.
2. Cook the spinach in a little olive oil in a hot pan until starting to wilt,  place in a colander and refresh under the cold tap. Squeeze out as much of the water as you can by placing into a clean tea towel and squeezing. Now put it into a food processor and add the egg yolks, the grated parmesan, the nutmeg plenty of seasoning and the flour. Blitz together until well mixed.
3. In a large bowl  whisk the egg whites until stiff but not dry, then fold into the spinach mixture. Spread in the tin and bake for 12-15 minutes until firm to the touch. 
4. Place a sheet of baking paper on your work top and sprinkle it with a little parmesan.
5. Turn out the roulade by placing it on the prepared parchment and carefully remove the paper while it is still hot. Now place the paper back onto the roulade and roll up.
6. in a bowl mix together the mascarpone, capers, cornichon, tomatoes & basil, season well. 
7. Now you can either immediately spread with the mascarpone mixture if you want to serve the roulade warm or leave it to cool completely if served cold. 
8. you can roll up in 2 ways. If you want to serve this as a starter roll up from the short width making thicker pieces, if using as a canapé roll up carefully starting with the long width hence making smaller pieces when cut.  Which ever way you choose use the parchment paper as your guide and roll quite tightly and firmly 
9. you can freeze the roulade at stage 4 ready for filling when defrosted.
10. Plate & sprinkle over with some parmesan, decorate with some basil leaves & sweet baby tomatoes.