Lasagna Rolls

So many times when confronted with cooking a meal for family I can’t ask “What do I want to eat?” because I know that not every can or will eat what I want to eat.  Instead I have to ask the question “What am I willing to eat?”. Tonight’s spin on lasagna helps alleviate some of that issue.  With a little extra time, and a nice selection of fillings not only can you achieve dinnertime bliss but you might get the kids involved with helping make dinner too.  So let’s get cooking!

Please keep in mind that this recipe is really more of an example, to show you how you can cook for a  number of people with varying tastes.  Change out any of my ingredients for ones you like better:

1 box of Lasagna Noodles – cooked just before al dente
1 lb fried Turkey “burger” meat
8 oz of goat cheese Feta
1 egg
5 0z of shredded Spinach (I used 1/2 of a frozen box of spinach)
caramelized Onions & Mushrooms
shredded Pecorino
finely chopped fresh herbs: Rosemary, Thyme, Oregano, Marjoram
Olive Oil
Marinara Sauce
Salt & Pepper to taste

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F and prepare a tall sided baking dish – as pictured below, your lasagna noodles will be standing upright, you’ll need the sides of the dish to be taller than the rolled noodles.  Pour enough marinara into the dish to cover the bottom and keep the noodles from sticking.

I seasoned and fried the turkey meat, and in a separate pan caramelized onions and mushrooms.  In a bowl I mixed the feta cheese, spinach, egg, 1/2 cup of pecorino, about two tablespoons of the herbs (combined) and about a tablespoon of olive oil.

When all your ingredients are getting close to done, cook your lasagna noodles to just before al dente.  They will cook more in the oven so you don’t want to boil them to al dente.

Now’s the time to individualize the rolls.  Lay out a lasagna noodle and place a thin layer of the spinach mixture as a base, then for the meat lover’s pasta roll add a couple spoonfuls of turkey and gently roll it up carefully placing it into the baking dish.  Lay out a 2nd lasagna noodle, add a layer of spinach mixture, and for the veggie lover’s selection add a layer of the onion & mushroom mixture.  These are thin layers, too much and rolling will be difficult and much of the layers will actually fall out of the roll, so be conservative with the layers until you get a feel for the quantity needed.

That’s really it, keep making noodles to match who wants what combination of filling.  When ready spoon marinara over the top of each noodle to add some moisture.  Cook about 30 minutes and bingo – dinner for everyone!

Enjoy!