by Kelly 80 Comments
I just love lasagna, but I am kind of particular about the ingredients and I cannot stand when the noodles are crunchy on the ends; that will ruin my piece of lasagna. My friends love my lasagna, and whenever I have a get together, I enjoy making my lasagna for them. However, while it used to cost about $10 to make a huge tray of lasagna, it now costs almost $20 for the same size tray! Save your dough and make thisSpinach Lasagna Roll Ups Recipe.For an Asian dish, be sure to check out my easy to makeSlow Cooker Sweet Korean BBQ Beef Recipe.
As many of us in the older crowd now know, the older we get, the more our tastes change. I was in the grocery store with a friend, discussing what we were craving, when I finally heard myself…I was craving various green vegetables, including spinach and peas, neither of which would I have ever previously touched, even with someone else’s spoon. I used to sit and pick every pea out of my pot pie before I would take a bite of it, so imagine my surprise when I started craving them. I stopped in mid stride that day and said to my friend, “I have never felt my age until this very minute.I am not craving ice cream or chocolate, I am craving green vegetables!” So I had to figure out how to eat things that I have had a longstanding distaste for, ESPECIALLY spinach. I have seen many recipes that include spinach in a variety of ways, but the one that caught my eye the most was spinach lasagna, so I tried it…and I liked it a lot. Be sure to make thisTraditional Pound Cake Recipe From Scratchfor a delicious dessert to end this yummy main course.
Anyone who has made regular lasagna knows that it can be quite labor intensive, as you have to cook most of the ingredients, assemble it and bake it. Further, once it is done, it has to sit for awhile so that the juices get soaked up into it and you do not have a pile of watery mush spilling all over the plate. When I saw a recipe for lasagna roll ups, I thought “genius, I can make as many or as few as I want” without the cost of making an entire tray, so I set out to make them. I found out the hard way that making lasagna roll ups, using the same ingredients I use to make spinach lasagna, was quite messy and more time consuming than making a tray of lasagna; I made them once and that was it. If you are making lasagna for a crowd, you can just make the traditional recipe, using a standard lasagna pan.
I love this recipe because it isdelicious and very easy to make.The sauce can be as easy as a can or jar of sauce or you can add homemade sauce to give it a more individualized touch. Once the noodles were finished cooking, spreading the ingredients on them and rolling them up took only a couple of minutes each. Place the roll ups in a baking pan, add the sauce over the top and bake for 30 minutes.
This is an easy dinner that can be prepared for a weeknight meal or a family gathering, and the roll ups are much easier to plate and serve than traditional lasagna. Also, I mentioned making homemade sauce as one way of individualizing this dish, but there are others, such as adding ground turkey. The wonderful thing about this recipe is its ease to prepare, but do not feel confined to any set of ingredients, try a variety of healthy ingredients to make it your own.
Spinach Lasagna Roll Ups
Recipe Type: Entree
Cuisine: Italian
Author: Robin Looney
Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 20 mins
Total time: 30 mins
Serves: 7 servings
Ingredients
- 1 pound lasagna noodles
- 1 package (15 oz.) ricotta cheese
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 whole egg
- 10 ounces frozen spinach
- 2 1/2 cup marinara sauce
- 1 dash salt and pepper
- non-stick cooking spray
Instructions
- Get a large pot of water boiling with a dash of salt. When it comes to a full boil, add the lasagna noodles and cook until al dente (soft but not soggy… about 12-15 minutes). When they are finished cooking, drain in a colander.
- While the noodles are boiling, prepare the filling. Thaw the package of frozen spinach in the microwave and then squeeze out as much excess liquid as possible.
- Combine the spinach in a bowl with the ricotta, mozzarella, Parmesan, egg, freshly grated pepper and about 1/4 tsp of salt. Mix until well combined.
- When the noodles and filling are ready to go, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Prepare a glass casserole dish by spraying with non-stick spray.
- On a clean surface, lay out a few noodles at a time. Place a few tablespoons of filling on each noodle and spread to cover from edge to edge. The filling does not need to be thick because once the noodle is rolled up, it will be compounded. Make sure to spread it all the way to the edges of the noodles.
- Roll the noodles up and place in the prepared casserole dish. Repeat until all of your filling is gone (there may be some noodles left over, these are “back ups” in case any of the others rip during assembly).
- Pour the marinara sauce over the rolled noodles making sure to cover all surfaces. The sauce will keep the noodles hydrated and soft while baking.
- Cover the dish in foil and bake for 30 minutes. Serve hot or divide into individual portions and refrigerate.
Who makes your favorite lasagna recipe?
