Lasagna rollups

pheedme · Joined: 01 May 2008 Posts: 16 Location: North Campus

After making this a couple times, I'll never make lasagna the "traditional" way (with overlapping flat sheets of pasta) again.

Got the overall idea for 'lasagna roll-ups' from a recipe in Cook's Country mag about a year ago. The tomato-meat sauce is one I've made for years. Think the source for that was Joy of Cooking.

Lasagna Roll-ups
1 13 x 9 pyrex dish, lasagna pan, or similarly shaped casserole
1 16-oz pkg regular dry lasagna noodles (don't use ‘no-bake’ variety)
16 oz ground chuck
8 oz ground pork
1 15-oz container of ricotta cheese
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1 1/2 cups grated Parmesan cheese
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 medium onion, chopped fine
1 medium carrot, chopped fine
1 celery stalk, chopped fine
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
(optional) 8 oz mushrooms, any kind, chopped fine
2 tsps Italian herb seasoning
1 large bay leaf
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons salt (for pasta water)
1/2 teaspoon salt (for cheese filling)
1 28-oz can whole tomatoes
1 small can tomato paste
(optional) 6 oz dry white or red wine
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced

1. Adjust oven rack to upper middle position and heat oven to 475 degrees.

2. Prepare sauce - in a large saucepan on medium-high heat, sauté minced garlic in olive oil until fragrant but not browned. Then sauté chopped onion, celery, and carrot until soft. Next, add both ground chuck and pork to pan and break up into small chunks with edge of spoon while sautéing until meat just turns from pink to grey. Then add whole tomatoes, either breaking them up with your hands as you add them to pan or breaking them up with edge of spoon as you incorporate them into meat & vegetable mixture. After tomatoes are well incorporated, add tomato paste and mix in well. (If mushrooms are used, add now and mix in well.) Add bayleaf and Italian herb seasoning; mix in well. Turn heat down and let simmer, uncovered, stirring every 5 minutes or so, for approx 90 minutes. Towards end of cooking, sauce should be thick and slightly clumpy; if it seems too dry, add wine to thin during last 30 minutes of cooking, stirring more often to incorporate. After taking sauce off heat, stir in 1 tsp salt, ½ tsp black pepper, and ½ tsp red pepper flakes.

3. Prepare cheese filling (while sauce is simmering) - in a large mixing bowl, combine ricotta, 1 cup mozzarella, 1 cup Parmesan, 1/4 cup basil, 1 egg, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Mix well.

4. Cook lasagna (approx 30 minutes before sauce is done) - In large pot, bring approx 6 quarts of water to a boil, add 2 Tbsp salt, stir, then add lasagna noodles, moving them around until they begin to boil without sticking to one another (if preferred, add 1 Tbsp of olive oil to cooking water before adding noodles to facilitate non-sticking). Cook until just tender, approx 10 minutes. Drain noodles in a colander and run cold water over to cool them down so that you can work with them. Spread them out on a cookie sheet, cutting board -- whatever is handy and keeps them from sticking together.

5. Make roll-ups and assemble dish - when sauce is ready, spread about 1/2 inch of it over entire bottom of pan or casserole. Working with short side of lasagna noodle facing you, spoon approx 2 Tbsp of cheese mixture on one end of noodle, then roll it up into compact tube (with no cheese extruding out either end), and arrange seam-down in casserole, in whatever pattern allows you to fit the most in one layer. Cover with remainder of sauce, working it down between roll-ups so that they are completely covered with and separated by sauce. Then sprinkle other 1 cup of mozzarella and 1/2 cup Parmesan over the top.

6. Bake lasagna - until cheese is browned, approx 20 minutes. Remove from oven and let stand about 10 minutes before serving. Enjoy with green salad and a glass or two (or four) of red wine.