Lasagna Roll Ups

 

 

 

Pinterest just makes me hungry. 

I’m sure you’ve seen (and re-pinned) this one.  Or saw something similar on Food Network, but I had to post this anyway.  I use my blog’s recipe page as an online cookbook.  I pinned this one a while back .  I changed the original recipe a bit to make it easier, but loved the roll-up idea. Who doesn’t love lasagna?!  It’s easy for me to cut a huge piece of traditional lasagna and easily consume like triple the recommended serving size.   I like tell myself calories don’t count if it involves melty cheese and/or pasta  🙂  So I tend to overindulge when it comes to lasagna.  This usually leads to a food coma.  Food comas are a bad idea when you have to function with a 3 month old.  So I love that these are individually portioned out.

 

I decided to make a huge batch while I was on maternity leave so I could freeze some for an easy weeknight meal when I went back to work.  I can’t explain the relieve I felt on a busy Monday when I remembered that I didn’t have to cook because lasagna was already made.  This recipe  is pretty simple and insanely delicious.   Trust me, it’s worth a few more minutes it takes to make extra to freeze.  

 

Ingredients

1T olive oil

pasta sauce

1/2 pound lean ground beef (or ground pork, veal, turkey, whatever) *optional

2 cloves minced garlic

1 (15 oz) container ricotta

1 large egg

1/3 c fresh parsley (chopped)

a bag of shredded mozzarella (or italian cheese blend)

about 1 cup of grated cheese

salt & pepper to taste

12 lasagna noodles

 

Directions

Pre heat oven to 375F. 

Start  boiling the water for the pasta.  Be sure to add a generous amount of salt to the pasta water.  This is your only chance to actually season the pasta itself.   Cook according to package.  I usually drizzle a little olive oil in the water to prevent sticking. Keep an eye on the lasagna noodles and stir occasionally.  You don’t want them sticking together!

While the oven heats and your pasta is cooking, add 1 T olive oil  to a large skillet, and brown your ground meat.  Add in the garlic, salt and pepper  for the last-minute or so to flavor the meat.

In a mixing bowl, combine the cheeses, parsley, & egg.  Be sure to reserve some grated cheese to sprinkle on top at the end.

Line your workspace with waxed paper.  I had kind of an assembly line going for this part.  Lay out a few lasagna noodles. Spoon out some of the cheese mixture onto each, leaving a little room at the edges. 

Add a little layer of ground meat. Then a layer of  sauce.

Roll them up! 

Add a light coating of sauce on the bottom of baking dishes so they do not stick. 

Place the roll ups on the dish.

Top with sauce and some grated cheese.  Loosely cover with foil.  Bake for 35 minutes.

 

 

This recipe can be fantastic without the meat as well.  It also is a perfect portion to pack and re-heat for lunch.