Lasagna Rolls

Good Morning!

2 things first:

1.)  I am putting this blog post together during Sesame Street, and they just played the Pre-School Musical song.  I think it is wildly hilarious!

2.)  You don't come to my blog for the expert food photography, right?  Right!  You come here for the cute girls and witty commentary, right?  Right!  Because, let's not kid ourselves here...the lighting was less than ideal when I made this meal.

I've had these Lasagna Rolls pinned for quite awhile and wanted to make sure that we had company when I made it, because the recipe makes a lot!

I also want to mention that I'm not one of those people who has a signature lasagna dish.  I usually make this recipe from Kraft Kitchens because you don't have to boil the noodles, and it's super basic.

Let me tell you, this was delicious!  

And fun!  

I feel like rolled food is cool like food on a stick or miniature food :)

Enough about my lasagna feeling, let's get to it!  

I present to you:  Italian Lasagna Rolls very slightly adapted from Mel's Kitchen Cafe.

We start with the basics of everything delicious in a savory dish...onions and garlic!

Add some ground beef and brown it up, yo!

Pop open some cans of tomatoey goodness and sprinkle on the spices.

Let it simmer into perfection.

Mix together the amazing cheese layer and spread it onto the cooked lasagna noodles.

Let's not kid ourselves here, I started out using a spoon, but I totally ended up using my hands.  It was much easier, plus using your hands when you cook is awesome.  It's like a personal experience with your ingredients...or something like that ;)

Spread a bit of sauce on top of the cheese.

I did use a spoon for the sauce :)

Rolls them up and place them in a pan (that has a cup or so of sauce in the bottom first) seam side down.

Sprinkle with the reserved cheese.  I added more cheese...you can't go wrong with more cheese!

Bake and enjoy the deliciousness!

By the way, this took forever to make.  If you feel like spending extra time, this is the way to go.  If you don't want to make fun rolls or spend a lot of time, stick with regular lasagna.

But, are you ready for the best part?  Everybody ate it!!!  Except for Aaron, because he was sick, but he would have eaten it.

And, of course, I threw my hands and in the air and proclaimed, "Yes!  Yes!!  Yessssss!!!"  

The girls really like it when I do that and ask me to when they all like the food.  I'm sure it will embarrass them sooner or later.  At which point I will stop, because I want us to like each other.

I served the lasagna rolls with salad, fruit salad, and garlic bread.  

I feel like you can eat lasagna and have it be healthy if you heap the rest of your plate with fruit and veggies.  

I think I read it somewhere.

Here's the recipe!

Italian Lasagna Rolls 

For the sauce:

1/2 cup chopped onion

2 cloves of minced garlic

1 pound ground beef

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

28 oz can crushed tomatoes

15 oz can tomato sauce

1 teaspoon dried basil

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

In a large nonstick skillet, add the onion, garlic, beef, salt and pepper.  Cook together until the beef is browned.  Drain the grease.

Add the tomatoes, tomato sauce, and spices.  Simmer over medium heat for at least 10-15 minutes.

While you're simmering the sauce, boil 12 lasagna noodles.  Drain and rinse in cold water.  Set them on a wax paper covered work surface.

Cheese Mixture:

15 oz container of ricotta cheese

1 egg

1 teaspoon dried basil

2 teaspoons dried parsley

10 oz mozzarella cheese, shredded, about 2 and 1/2 cups (reserve 3/4 cup for topping)

4 oz parmesan cheese, grated, about 1 and 1/2 cups (reserve 1/4 cup for topping)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

Mix all of the ingredients together in a medium bowl...remember to leave out the 3/4 cup of mozzarella and 1/4 cup parmesan for topping at the end.  Evenly divide the cheese mixture to spread on the 12 lasagna noodles.  

After the noodles are topped with the cheese mixture, spread a tablespoon or 2 of sauce on each noodle.

Pour about a cup of sauce into a greased 9x13 inch pan.  Spread it around.  Add the lasagna rolls, seam side down, in 4 rows of 3 rolls.

Top with the remaining sauce.  Sprinkle the reserved cheese on top.  Cover with foil sprayed with nonstick spray so it doesn't stick to the cheese.

Bake at 35o degrees for 35 minutes.  Remove foil and bake for 10-15 more minutes, until the cheese is browned to your preference.  

Let it sit for about 10 minutes before serving.  This would be a great time to pop your garlic bread in the oven!

Enjoy!

Oh, and stop back tomorrow to see all the great painting Aaron did in our kitchen!

Linking up with Jessica!