Lasagna Roll Ups

So I know I have been overloading with food posts, but come on - some of them are darn yummy!!  I know that tomorrow Linc and I will be having a later night, which means prepping and cooking dinner when I get home would result in eating at 9-10pm.  That just won't work!  Keeping that in mind I decided to prepare Lasagna Roll Ups today for baking tomorrow.  (I am very sorry for anyone whose sensibilities are bothered by this, but a girl has to do what a girl has to do.)

Brian has always been a fan of lasagna, yet now that I am doing the calorie counting I was worried that one piece would wipe me out for the day - and do I really want all my calories going to a food I consider just OK?  Imagine my surprise when I put the recipe into my builder and came out with a wonderfully low number of 195 calories per roll up!!  This recipe was definitely doable, and if it's a hit, it will most likely become a staple.  Pasta is one of my favorite foods, second actually only to bread (I know right?!).  That being said I HATE the lasagna making process.  Boil the noodles, mix the cheeses, make the meat sauce, layer layer layer.  I normally only do it for special occasions and then only under duress.  (Poor Brian, I guess I am not a very nice wife.)  I was skeptical that the roll ups would be any better of a process - wouldn't it be more time consuming and a bigger pain?  I am happy to say that I actually enjoyed making these roll ups.  Not only did I NOT burn my fingers on lasagna noodles (a common happening when making layer lasagna), but rolling them was FUN.  (Ok we all know I am a little crazy so just go with it :-D)  I also love the fact that one roll up is a serving - no more trying to cut perfect pieces and losing half the filling when taking said piece out of the pan.  All in all the prep for the lasagna roll ups was fine - I still had to cook the noodles and prepare the meat and cheese, but I got to spread out the noodles and "paint" on the cheese and meat.  FUN!

Here is the recipe and some pictures.  I will update once we have eaten them to let you know the consensus on Roll Ups vs Layered.

Lasagna Roll Ups

• 1/2 lbs Lean Ground Beef (I used 97/3)
• 1 T Minced Onion
• 1 T Garlic Powder  (You can use fresh - I just had none on hand)
• 2 cans Diced Tomatoes (I used Hunt's regular)
• 1 Large Egg
• 16 oz Ricotta Cheese (I use part skim)
• 1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese *
• 3/4 cup Mozzarella Cheese *
• 3/4 cup Pasta Sauce 
• Parsley (I used fresh, but spice parsley is fine)
• 1lb box of Lasagna Noodles

1. Boil noodles according to package.
2. Brown beef with onion and garlic.
3. Drain beef.  Transfer portions of drained beef to a food processor (I use my magic bullet) and pulse to finely grind beef.  (You do NOT need to do this part, however it does make the meat sauce easier to spread.  You could also put it through a meat grinder, however it is only 1/2 a pound and my magic bullet is a LOT easier to clean than my grinder.)
4. Add the tomatoes to the beef.  (I dumped a can into my magic bullet to purée it - just cause I am not a fan of huge tomato chunks.)
5. When noodles are done, drain and lay out on wax paper.
6. Combine ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese, 1/4 cup of mozzarella cheese, egg and parsley in a bowl.  Mix until blended well.
7. Place a spoonful of the cheese mixture on each noodle.  Spread the mixture to cover the noodle.
8. Spoon some meat sauce onto each noodle and spread. 
9. Place 1/4 cup of pasta sauce in the bottom of your baking dish.
10. Roll up the noodles as you would a jelly roll and place them on the sauce seam side down
11. Top the rolls with remaining pasta sauce and mozzarella cheese.
12. Bake at 350 until cheese is melted and sauce is bubbly.

As you can tell from the pictures, a pound of lasagna noodles makes a LOT of roll ups. (Makes me wonder seeing normally a pound of noodles goes into ONE lasagna - obviously there is a lot more noodle than needed there.) I made 18.  There is NO WAY we were going to eat 18 roll ups so I divided the roll ups between two dishes and froze one for a later date. (Instant dinner on a night when I am just not feeling like cooking!) Because I laid the noodles on wax paper clean up (from rolling) was a cinch, just roll the paper up and throw away.  We will see if they past the taste test - it is looking good from my end though!!

UPDATE:  Now that Brian and I have actually eaten the roll ups I have come back to update everyone as promised.  Brian said they were "good" (which is his standard answer so he really wasn't much help there).  We both agreed that the roll ups were a LOT easier to serve and to know the serving size!  The taste was very good - however, I think the next time I make them I will have to add another 1/4 cup of pasta sauce.  They were a little cheesy without tomato sauce to counter it for my tastes - and Brian is always a fan of more sauce so that should be "good" as well.  All in all I would say they are a hit!  (Of course not such a hit that Mr. Picky Stinky would even consider THINKING about trying them.  Seriously where does he get that pickiness from? - says the girl that ate beef in the form of filet mignon ONLY until she was 20.)  I am thinking this will definitely be my go-to lasagna set up from now on!!  Even with the extra sauce we are still looking at under 200 calories a piece - definitely a wonderful meal!