It’s Fall! Time for something hearty. How about lasagna, with a twist? Or actually…a roll! This seemed like something my girls would enjoy helping me make, so we gave it a try today!

Before they joined me in the kitchen, I did some prep at the stove. First I sauteed some diced onions, garlic and baby spinach with some dried herbs. I also boiled some lasagna noodles, and allowed all of that to cool.

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The girls then combined the filling ingredients together in a bowl.

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Mix Mix Mix

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I laid out the cooled lasagna noodles onto some wax paper, and they scooped out some of the filling onto each noodle and spread it out.

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“Mama, we don’t need your help. We know how to roll.” Indeed.

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Place each roll into a baking pan with some tomato sauce spread out all over the bottom.

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Then when you’re done with all the rolls, cover with more sauce…

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…and cheese.

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Bake…

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…and enjoy!

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I’m glad to add another dish to our go-to repertoire. These can be made ahead and stored without sauce either put in the refrigerator overnight, or frozen for later. And try different ingredients…whatever you’d usually put in lasagna, you can add to the filling. Here’s the recipe!

Lasagna Rolls

Makes 9 Servings. Total prep time: 20 minutes. Total cooking time: 40 minutes

  • 9 lasagna noodles, boiled according to package directions and cooled
  • 6 cups baby spinach, or 1 10-oz box frozen spinach, thawed and drained
  • 1 medium onion, diced
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 Tbs olive oil
  • 2 tsp dried Italian herb mix
  • 16 oz ricotta cheese, drained
  • 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated
  • 1 egg
  • 25 oz tomato sauce
  • 3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 Degrees F. Heat olive oil in a skillet. Add onions, garlic and half of the Italian seasoning and salt and pepper. Sautee until onions are translucent. Add spinach and stir to combine with onions and garlic. Add additional salt, pepper and Italian seasoning. When spinach has wilted, remove the mixture from pan and set aside to cool.

In a large bowl, combine ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese, egg, and the spinach mixture. Lay out cooled lasagna noodles onto sheets of wax paper. Spread about 1/3 cup of the ricotta cheese mixture onto each noodle, then carefully roll up each noodle. Ladle 1 cup of the tomato sauce onto the bottom of a long baking pan, and place each lasagna roll onto the tomato sauce, seam side down. Top with the remaining tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese. Bake at 350 Degrees F for 40 minutes, until the cheese has melted.

Happy Fall!