Sunday, September 8, 2013

Lasagna Rolls


I am a lasagna purist, so it took me a long time to get on the lasagna roll bandwagon.  The concept has been around for a while, but since lasagna is one of my favorite foods, I thought my way was better.  Well... I might have been wrong.  These are so good!  And if you want to put them in multiple dishes to freeze, pass off to a friend etc, it is very convenient!

Meat Sauce:

  • 1 lb ground beef
  • 1/2 a 32 oz. jar of sauce (save the rest for the bottom and top)
Ricotta Filling:

  • 2 cups ricotta cheese (or a 15 ounce container)
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 teaspoons of pesto
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley ( I only had dried)
  • 8 ounces mozzarella cheese shredded, about 2 cups (reserving 1/2 cup for topping)
  • 4 ounces Parmesan cheese finely grated, about 1 1/2 - 2 cups (reserving 1/4 cup for topping)
  • Salt and Pepper to taste
Noodles:

  • 12 traditional lasagna noodles (I had enough filling for 15)
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9x13-inch baking pan and set aside.
  2. Brown the ground beef and drain any excess grease.
  3. Add half of the jar of sauce and simmer to combine the flavors.
  4. While the sauce is simmering, boil the lasagna noodles in a large pot of salted water according to package directions until al dente. Drain the noodles, rinse quickly under cold water and then lay the noodles flat in a single layer on waxed paper, towel, cutting board, whatever is handy.
  5. Stir together the ricotta cheese, egg, pesto, parsley, mozzarella cheese (remember to set aside 1/2 cup of the mozzarella for topping later), Parmesan cheese (remember to set aside 1/4 cup of the Parmesan for later also), salt and pepper.
  6. Spread a heaping spoonful of the ricotta filling down the center of each noodle. It doesn't have to cover the entire noodle, just press it into a somewhat even layer. The filling will be divided up evenly over all 12 noodle (I don't start rolling up the noodles until I've used up all the filling so I can add more to each noodle if need be). Spread a tablespoon or two of the meat sauce down the center of each noodle on top of the creamy filling. Again, it doesn't need to be perfectly even, just drizzle/spread it across the top.
  7. Spread about one cup or so of the sauce in the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Working with one lasagna noodle at a time, roll the noodle and place seam-side down in the baking dish in four rows of three. Spread the remaining sauce over the noodles, sprinkle with the reserved cheeses and cover with aluminum foil  Bake, covered for 35 minutes. Uncover and bake for an additional 10 minutes. Let the lasagna rolls rest for 10 minutes before serving.
Kitchen of Reality Tips:
- I used a jarred sauce by Mid's called Meatless (Lowe's Foods) and it was the best sauce I have ever tasted!  It is quite expensive so I only bought it because it was on a great sale.  In the future, I will be sure to stock up because it was awesome!
- I got all my other ingredients at Aldi, so you can keep the price pretty low!