Lasagna Roll-ups

Lasagna is a pretty classic comfort food, but not one that I would normally make for a weeknight dinner.  With just the two of us eating, an entire pan of lasagna is enough food to eat for a week so unless we're expecting company, lasagna is a rare treat.  If you are like me, lasagna roll-ups are the solution.  You can make as many servings as you need and you can do it in less time. 

The process starts out the same, boil the noodles, brown the meat and make a sauce.  Make a ricotta mixture and then you just roll it up.  Depending on how many you are making you can bake them in a loaf pan, an 8x8 pan or whatever you need.  To assemble, you just drain the noodles, spread a little of the ricotta mixture on top, add meat sauce and roll them up.  Top with a little more sauce, some mozzarella cheese and bake.  Voila - lasagna the easy way.

I generally swap whole wheat pasta for regular pasta and use ground turkey instead of ground beef to lighten up the recipe. 

Lasagna Roll-ups

8 lasagna noodles

1/2 pound lean ground turkey

1 T olive oil

1 clove garlic

1/2 onion

1 can crushed tomatoes

1 egg

1/2 cup ricotta cheese

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 1/2 T fresh basil, chopped

1 1/2 T fresh oregano, chopped

1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Heat a large pot of water to boiling over high heat.  When it reaches a boil, salt liberally and drop noodles.  Stir occasionally and cook to just al dente.  You want to leave them slightly more firm since you'll be baking the pasta.  Drain noodles and set aside.

Meanwhile in a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat.  Add garlic and onion and saute for 2-3 minutes.  Add turkey and brown.  When almost cooked through, add tomatoes and reduce heat to medium low.  Simmer for about 15 minutes.  Add 1/2 the basil, oregano, and crushed red pepper flakes and stir to combine.

In a small bowl, lightly beat egg.  Add ricotta, Parmesan and remaining basil and oregano and stir together.  Spray pan lightly with cooking spray.  Add enough sauce to lightly cover the bottom of the pan.  To assemble, on a drained noodle, add a spoonful of ricotta mixture.  Top with a spoonful of meat sauce and roll up.  Place seam side down in pan.  Continue until you've used all the noodles.  Top each with a little more meat sauce and sprinkle with mozzarella and remaining crushed red pepper flakes.  Bake approximately 20 minutes until cheese is melted and bubbly.