Tuesday Night - Lasagna Roll-Ups

As you may recall, Tuesday is the first day of the week that I can spend a bit more time on dinner. I wasn't sure if I wanted to spend a lot of time tonight since Annette has a class and won't be home until dinner is long over. Yes, my stepson is here but, as a teenager, it less about how much effort I put into making it and more about how little effort he can put into eating it. After considering that Annette will be able to enjoy the leftovers for lunch tomorrow I decided to make a nice dinner.

We all love lasagna but I came across an idea for lasagna roll-ups instead. It's sort of like a jelly-roll cake except, instead of the cake it's a lasagna noodle, and there's cheese and spinach in place of the jelly; otherwise it's exactly the same. Oh yeah, and the lasagna roll-ups are sitting in a bechamel sauce and covered with tomato sauce.

Since this dinner is a bit more complex than the others I'm going to write it like a real recipe so pardon the formality.

The bechamel sauce:

• 2 tbs butter
• 4 tsp flour
• 1 1/4 c whole milk
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp black pepper
• A pinch of ground nutmeg

Lasagna filling:

• 15 oz container of whole milk ricotta
• 1/2 c mozzarella
• 1 can chopped spinach squeezed well
• 1 c grated Parmesan
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper

Everything else:

• 12 lasagna noodles (not the quick-cook kind)
• 2 c marinara sauce
• 1 c shredded mozzarella
• 2 tbs olive oil

1. Preheat the oven to 425℉ and start heating a large pot of water (remember to cover it!)
2. Oil a glass baking dish (about 9 by 3)
3. Mix the ricotta, Parmesan, 1/2 c mozzarella, 3/1 tsp salt, and 1/2 black pepper.
4. Make the bechamel sauce:Melt the butter in a sauce pot over medium-low heat. Add the flour and whisk for a few minutes. Whisk in the milk and increase the heat to medium high. Which until the sauce simmers and becomes a bit think. Whisk in the salt, pepper and nutmeg. remove from the heat.
5. Boil the lasagna noodles until firm, a bit under done.
6. Add the bechamel sauce to the baking dish.
7. Remove the noodles and lay on a board (as many as will fit.)
8. Spread each noodle with about 3 tbs of the ricotta mixture and roll up (like a jelly roll!)
9. Repeat until you've used all the noodles or exhausted the filling.
10. Pour 1 c marinara sauce over the roll-ups and sprinkle with 1 c mozzarella.
11. Cover the dish tightly with foil and bake to 20 minutes.
12. Remove the foil and bake for another 15 minutes.
13. Let it rest about 5 minutes and pour the remaining marinara sauce over it.

The use of bechamel sauce may seem odd but it adds a new dimension to the dish. Enjoy!