Lasagne Roll Ups Recipe

I want to talk about Lasagne today. Do you like lasagne? I know you do. I like lasagne too. Lasagne was one of my favorite things to eat when I was growing up, but who doesn't like Lasagne?? That's right, nobody. Lasagne is terrific - giant noodles, cheese, marinara sauce..what's not to love? When I was growing up, my mom would make our favorite meal on our birthday. I chose lasagne several times.

So we've established that Lasagne is great, (but I really didn't need to convince you, because you already knew it was), but the real question is, "Can it get any better?" The answer is YES! It absolutely can be upgraded. How? Roll it up! What? People do that? Yes! And it's great! Here's why:
- It's kid friendly
- It's less messy and easier to serve than regular Lasagne.
- It's easier and quicker to prepare!!

How easy is it? Scroll down and find out.

Lasagne Roll Ups

Ingredients:
- 12 lasagne noodles (about 13 ounces)
- 2 cloves garlic (minced or fed through press)
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 15 ounces of part skim ricotta
- 1 cup shredded part skim mozzarella
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 large egg, beaten
- 10 ounces frozen (thawed) spinach
- 2 1/2 cups marinara sauce
- 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper
- non-stick cooking spray

Begin boiling water for the noddles. In the meantime, prepare the lasagna filling. In small skillet, heat the olive oil to medium. Saute garlic for 1 minute, stirring often. Set aside. Thaw and squeeze the spinach very dry. Combine the ricotta with the garlic and stir to combine. Then combine the "dry" spinach in a bowl with the egg, ricotta, mozzarella, parmesan, salt and pepper. Mix until thoroughly combined.

When water reaches a heavy boil, add the noodles and boil according to directions for al dente. Occasionally stir noodles, very gently while they cook to prevent them from sticking to each other and the pot. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a 9 x 13 glass baking dish with non-sick cookies spray.

Once your noodles are cooked, drain them in colander, cool slightly (just enough to where you can handle them) and then lay them out on a cutting board or clean surface. Spread 4 tablespoons of filling over each noodle (filling should spread edge to edge). Roll from end to end (as pictured in photo below).

Spread 1/4 cup of marinara sauce in the bottom of the dish. Place rolled/filled noodles seam side down in dish. Pour the remaining marinara sauce over the tops of the lasange roll ups, taking care to fully cover the noodles. Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes at 400 degrees.

***A couple of tips to keep in mind***
- Cook a couple of extra noodles just in case some of them get torn. Torn noodles do not work well with this recipe
- It's best to cook the noodles to al dente due to the fact that the noodles continue to cook in the oven.
- Squeeze the spinach until its very dry.
- Be sure to cover with foil while baking to prevent the noodles form drying out.

I found this recipe on the Shrinking On a Budget website. If you haven't checked out this meal plan service, I highly recommend that you do. This meal plan service has made my life so much easier when it comes to meals. :)