Spinach Lasagna Rolls

I finally got around to trying another recipe. My dear friend Whitney came over last night so I tried it out on her. It was nice having someone to eat dinner with and very nice catching up as always! I would say these turned out pretty wonderfully, I will definitely be making them again.


Spinach Lasagna Rolls

• 9 lasagna noodles, cooked
• 10 oz frozen chopped spinach, thawed and completely drained
• 15 oz ricotta cheese ( I used low fat)
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 egg
• salt and fresh pepper
• 32 oz spaghetti sauce
• mozzarella cheese, shredded
• Italian seasoning 
• Minced or crushed garlic  

** I do not have measurements for salt, pepper, italian seasoning, parmesan and mozzarella cheese, or garlic. I love cheese so I just put as much as I want :) and as far as seasonings, I just season to taste!**

-Preheat oven to 350°. Combine spinach, ricotta, mozzarella, Parmesan, egg, salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning in a medium bowl.
-Ladle about 1 cup spaghetti sauce on the bottom of a 9 x 12 baking dish.

-Cook lasagna noodles. Place a piece of wax paper on the counter and lay out lasagna noodles. Make sure noodles are dry.
-Spoon out ricotta mixture ( you can be pretty generous) and spread evenly over noodle. -Roll carefully and place seam side down onto the baking dish. Repeat with remaining noodles.

-Ladle sauce over the noodles in the baking dish and top each one with mozzarella cheese.
-Put foil over baking dish and bake for 40 minutes, or until cheese melts. Makes 9 rolls.


That is all there is to it. It was actually pretty simple to make, and I am sure you could make the rolls and freeze them so you would just have to pop them in the oven for a little quicker meal :)

The filling for noodles.

Noodles with filling spread.

Almost finished product, before baking.

Italian Spinach Meatballs

Yummy, yummy, yummy! I finally tried one of the many recipes I have been collecting to try. It was pretty easy and turned out really good! Thought I would share the recipe in case anyone else wanted to try this out.

Ingredients:
* 1 lb lean ground beef
* 1 tbsp olive oil
* 10 oz frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained of all liquid
* 2 slices whole wheat bread
* 1 large egg
* 1 clove garlic, minced (season to taste.. I used a little more garlic than what this called for because I love garlic!)
* 2 tbsp fresh parsley
* 1/2 cup parmesan cheese -- I used this and then added a small handful of Kraft Italian 5 cheese shredded cheese, made it even better!!
* salt and pepper
* 1 jar of spaghetti sauce
* half an onion chopped

Meatballs: Wet bread with water then mash up with your hands. Add to large bowl and combine with chopped beef, chopped spinach, egg, garlic, parsley, grated cheese, salt and pepper. Mix all ingredients well until thoroughly combined. Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, measure meat, then divide in two so that each meatball is 1/8th of a cup. Roll into little meatballs.

Sauce: In a large pot, add olive oil and heat on medium. When hot add smashed garlic. When garlic is golden brown, add sauce, onion, salt and pepper and cover, reduce heat to low.

Meanwhile, in a large nonstick skillet, add 1 tbsp olive oil on low heat. When oil is hot add as many meatballs that will fit, cook on low, turning often so that all side get browned. Cook until the centers are cooked through. When finished, place on a dish lined with paper towels to blot any excess oil.
This is one step I didn't do, it is optional--Drop meatballs into sauce and continue cooking the remaining meatballs, repeating the process. When all meatballs are in the sauce, simmer for an additional 15-20 minutes

That is all there is to it!! I also cooked some noodles so it was more like a spaghetti and meatball type dish. I will definitely be making this again soon!

Noodles with the meatballs

Topped off with sauce

For dessert we have homemade Angel Food Cake with strawberries and whip cream!