Tag Archives: mozzarella

Spinach Lasagna Rolls

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Oh you guys–this recipe is a winner. I haven’t been posting recipes as often as I’d like, but I’m making this happen because it’s so tasty and awesome and it was so much fun to make on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

I first encountered lasagna rolls on the internet. In fact, I saw them years ago and immediately wrote them off as too complicated and probably not delicious enough to be worth the (seeming) effort.

Then, in January I went to Arizona to visit my sister Erica and her babies, including the newly minted Joshua (born on New Years Day!).

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Arizona. It’s brown.

Someone brought us a meal the second evening I was there: lasagna rolls. They were so, so good that I immediately decided to make them upon my return home.

Then, the folks at Red Gold were kind enough to send me a promotional kit with the materials to make lasagna. I had everything I needed to make these little bundles of tomato and pasta love. It’s like the stars had aligned, or something.

So on a relaxing Sunday, I got out the step stool and put my baby to work.

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Mix this stuff! Roll that stuff! Bake that stuff!

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And what was I doing while my little one was slaving away? Well sitting on the couch eating bonbons, of course. Heh heh.

How’s the ricotta mixture shaping up over there Alice?

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Good?

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Wait Alice! Don’t eat it! There’s raw egg in there!

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Sorry kiddo. One day you’ll understand.

Phew–that was a close call. Okay, no more bonbons–gotta keep this baby on track.

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Anyway, I gleaned the recipe from Skinny Taste, and man is it good.

And about 2 rolls are just enough to fill the stomach of a hungry adult human.

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And it turns out it’s not so hard to make! Especially if you have a wee one to help with all the important parts–like banging the measuring cup on the counter and tasting the mozzarella.

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For the record, my husband said, “Wow, this is better than actual lasagna.” Then he looked up and said, “Don’t tell my Aunt Laura I said that.”

We can only hope that Aunt Laura doesn’t read this far down into the post. {cue evil laughter}

Ingredients

(Serves 4)

9 cooked lasagna noodles
10 oz frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
15 oz ricotta cheese
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 egg
Salt and pepper, to taste
32 oz spaghetti sauce
9 TBS grated mozzarella cheese

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
  2. Spread out the cooked lasagna noodles on a large piece of wax paper and let them dry.
  3. Mix the spinach, ricotta, Parmesan, and egg with some salt and pepper.
  4. Spread about 1 cup of spaghetti sauce over the bottom of a 9×12 baking dish.
  5. Evenly spread 1/3 cup of the ricotta mixture down the whole length of each noodle. Like thees.

DSC_01966. Roll each noodle, and place them all seam-side down into the baking dish.

7. Ladle the rest of the spaghetti sauce over the noodles, and top each roll with 1 TBS mozzarella.

DSC_02238. Cover with foil and bake for 40 minutes.

Ta daa!

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Serve hot!

Alice and I hope you guys enjoy it.

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Yay for babies and food! Two of my favorite things in life.

Click here for printer-friendly version: Spinach Lasagna Rolls

White Pizza with Roma Tomatoes

Last week I was unexpectedly told I could work from home on Thursday and Friday, which was not only awesome for its own sake, but because it allowed me to hibernate in front of our living room window unit instead of venturing outside into the blistering sun, which has the potential to scorch the very skin off my bones in about 1 minute flat.

So Thursday and Friday, I booted up our old Compaq laptop (the one that the burglars in January took out of the case and then–hah hah–did not deign to take), logged into my remote desktop, and set up a little station right in front of the air conditioner with: my coffee. The laptop (incidentally, still covered in fingerprinting dust from the detective). My work cell phone. My coconut Greek yogurt (divine). A big glass of water. Two cereal bars. An old, battered copy of Jane Eyre. What ensued were delightfully peaceful mornings and afternoons, with my attention riveted on the passionate dialogues between Jane and Mr. Rochester and the chilling relationship between Jane and the inexorable St John Rivers, with the occasional distraction of answering my cell phone to set up a delivery appointment for a shipment of citric acid, sending an order confirmation to a customer in South America, or getting a transportation quote for a customer Stateside, or going back and forth about a mysterious wire transfer that a customer claims to have sent but we never received. And then–back to the plights of Jane as her will is tried and bent under the stern command of St John Rivers!

Aaaaah. Life is good.

The downside of this break in routine–I got a little lazy with my blogging. Thankfully I had this recipe hanging around in my drafts, and it’s the perfect follow-up to Erica’s pizza crust recipe from last week. So it’s all coming together after all, despite my neglectful 4th of July ways!

I love the simplicity of this lil’ white pizza. It’s not up my husband’s alley, so I’m pretty much guaranteed to get it all to myself. Mmmmm!

My sister Erica called me up and pretty much commanded me to make it. I’m so glad that after a bossy start in my career as a sister, I have learned to listen to the Blonde One when it comes to culinary matters. And decorating matters. And many, many other matters.

Ingredients

(makes 1 pizza)

1 pizza crust
2 spoonfuls Alfredo sauce
2 handfuls grated cheese (mozzarella + Italian blend)
1 sprinkling grated Parmesan cheese
2 Roma tomatoes, thinly sliced

Preheat the oven to 500 F with a pizza stone inside, and shape the pizza crust on a piece of parchment paper.

Spread the Alfredo sauce on the pizza crust very thinly. I emphasize–very thinly. If not, things get a little gross. Sprinkle on the mozzarella/Italian blend, and then layer on the thin slices of tomato.

Sprinkle a little Parmesan on top of the tomatoes.

Slide the parchment paper with the pizza on top straight on to the pizza stone as soon as the oven is fully preheated.

Bake at 500 for 10-14 minutes, consume, rejoice! You could even sprinkle it with fresh basil right before eating, if that’s your thing.

Now this is my idea of a good pizza! Not a piece of pepperoni in sight.

Click here for printer-friendly version: White Pizza with Roma Tomatoes