Lasagna Spinach Rolls

I made this for dinner earlier this week and it was so good. What made it good was not only the abundance of cheese (mmm) but the tomato sauce was excellent too. It was Mediterranean and was flavored with all kinds of olives, which everybody loved! It’s a quick meal and I feel like it’s a lot easier to make than a full lasagna would be. Try it out!

Ingredients:

2 ½ cups of spinach, cooked and drained, and very finely chopped

A small yellow onion, chopped

2 Tbsp of Garlic butter (having garlic butter permanently stocked in the fridge is a great idea)

1 cup of Ricotta

Salt and Pepper

6-8 Lasagna sheets (depending on how big your baking dish is)

1 Can or jar of seasoned tomato sauce

1 cup of shredded mozzarella as well as some shredded Parmesan

Boil the lasagna sheets in a large pot until they are tender, but not overcooked… around 6-7 minutes. Once they are cooked, rinse with cold water and pat them dry.

While the pasta is cooking, fry the onions in melted garlic butter. Once cooked, stir in the spinach until well combined. Remove from heat. Stir in the ricotta, salt and pepper.

Lay the pasta sheets flat on the counter. Evenly place spinach mixture on sheets except for an inch or so at the end of each sheet. Roll them up gently starting by the end where the spinach is touching the edge.

Place a bit of tomato sauce at the bottom of the dish, place the rolls down side by side in the dish, coat with the rest of the tomato sauce. Finally, add the cheese. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes in a 425-degree oven. Remove the foil and bake an additional 10 minutes in a 425-degree oven, or until the cheese is nice and golden.

Remove from heat and let sit a few minutes before serving. Slice the cheese in a way to separate each roll, and serve with a Cesar salad.

Bon Appétit!

Meaty Monday

I’m all about keeping it simple when I’m too tired or lacking creativity so I ended up making spaghetti and meatballs for dinner tonight. I’ve never actually made meatballs before as I’m not much of a “ground beef” kind of girl but I’m trying to be open minded and I’m not going to lie…. These meatballs are really good! They almost rival the Swedish Meatballs at IKEA, as far as meatballs go!



Spaghetti & Meatballs
(Serves 6-8)

For the meatballs:
1½ lbs. Lean ground Beef
1½ cups Panko, or regular bread crumbs
¼ cup of Grated Parmesan
½ tsp. Garlic powder
1 tbsp. Fresh chopped parsley
½ tsp. Salt
½ tsp. Pepper
1 egg, beaten

For the tomato sauce: (I definitely got lazy/didn’t have the ingredients necessary to make a sauce from scratch)
1 large can of tomato sauce (I used a “garlicky tomato” sauce)
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 tbsp. garlic cloves, minced

1. Put all the meatball ingredients in a bowl and mix them well until well blended, using your hands works best. Make about 20 1” meatballs with your hands, place them on plate or cookie sheet and set aside.

2. In a saucepan, sauté the onions and garlic in the olive oil until translucent. Empty the entire can of tomato sauce. Bring to boil, stirring occasionally. Let sauce simmer for 10-15 minutes and add the uncooked meatballs individually, until they are all coated evenly. Cover, simmer or medium heat for 35 minutes.

3. Cook spaghetti while meatballs are cooking in the sauce. Serve pasta in bowls, and place meatballs on top. Garnish with a bit of fresh parsley and some grated cheese.



Bon Appétit!