Recipe: Stuffed Lasagna Roll-Ups

By the time I’m writing this, all of these delicious little roll-ups have already been devoured. Rest in peace in our bellies, sweethearts!

These are AWESOME to make for dinner for 3 main reasons:

1) They’re easy & fast – even with prep, lasagna boiling and roll-up forming, the entire meal takes less than an hour from pre-heating to the plate!

2) They’re easy on my budget – I used some ingredients in our pantry, but even without them this entire meal could easily be made for less than $15 to feed a family of four (just increase the ingredient amounts slightly!) or, like we did, a family of two for 1 dinner and 1 lunch each!

3) They’re filling and DELICIOUS! – I was stuffed from just one roll-up, and even though I’ve had them for 2 days I’d still eat another one! 😛

Don’t be intimidated if you’re new to cooking at home – the recipe calls for a couple of pre-made items to ensure ease of access to all, and more seasoned chefs can feel free to make your own pasta or sauce to tailor it more to your tastes!

– 1 box of lasagna noodles (you’ll have leftovers because we only used 6 total, but they are good for future roll-up uses!)

– 1 jar of pasta sauce (not pictured; your choice! We used Ragu’s Chunky Garden Vegetable Primavera, which has chunks of carrot, zucchini, tomatoes, etc!)

– 15 oz Ricotta cheese

– 1/2 cup thawed frozen spinach

– 1/2 cup of shredded Italian blend cheese (split into two separate 1/4 cup portions)

– 5 fresh basil leaves, chopped (optional)

– 1 clove minced garlic

– 1/2 tbsp olive oil

– 1 tbsp grated parmesan cheese

– Seasonings to taste (I used salt, pepper, onion powder & garlic powder)

1) Pre-heat your oven to 375 F degrees.

2) Bring a pot of water to boil and cook the pasta per the package instructions (should take less than 10 minutes). Strain pasta.

3) Brush a pan with olive oil and line it with the pasta, strips to dry a bit. You can brush the tops of each and layer them in a sort of criss-crossing pattern until they look matte-ish. (Very specific, I know! Just make sure they aren’t slimy, don’t put a ton of oil! They need to be a bit tacky to the touch.)

4) Mix the seasonings, garlic, ricotta, 1/4 c shredded Italian and grated parmesan cheeses in a bowl until well combined.

5) Using a spoon, hold a noodle in one hand while scooping small spoonfuls onto it that extend to the edge of either side of the pasta. Once you’ve got about 2 good spoonfuls, begin rolling the lasagna noodle into little roll-ups. This part is difficult to explain via text and is pretty intuitive!

6) In a shallow baking dish (I used a glass one!) pour the pasta sauce until the bottom is covered in a 1/4 inch layer. Set the roll-ups gently in rows on top of the sauce.

7) Once all your roll-ups are in a row, spoon the rest of the pasta sauce over the top. Sprinkle with your remaining 1/4 c of Italian shredded cheese and bake at 375 F degrees for 25 minutes.

8) Let cool about 10 minutes before serving! Eat it with garlic bread, a salad or by itself. 😀

Freshly baked and taken out of the oven to cool!

These are definitely going into my regular dinner rotation – they’re so good! I can’t wait to have them again. You can easily adjust them to any specific preference – adding meat, adding fresh vegetables, using more things in the filling! The roll-up lasagna possibilities are endless. 😀