Lasagna Rolls

Alright guys.....here's a fairly easy and yummy take on the traditional lasagna...only better! These rolls are great for many reasons...they have a beautiful presentation, they taste amazing!...and if you don't cook for 6 people every night...they freeze very well and can easily be individually frozen.

This recipe is orginally from Giada de Laurentiis, but you will find my modifications in pink next to the original. Enjoy! Ask if you have any questions anytime :-)


Sauce:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 teaspoons all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups whole milk (2% milk works fine)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
Pinch ground nutmeg (I leave this out, but only because oddly enough...I have just never remembered to pick it up when at the store)

Lasagna:
1 (15-ounce) container whole milk ricotta cheese
1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, squeezed dry (This is a lot of work...for not that great of a texture. I'm not a spinach fan, so I use 1 large or 2 med-small zuchinni squashes instead. Just grate them up like you would a block of cheese)
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan (you can use the stuff in the shaker, but it tastes a lot better and fresher if you buy a bag or tub of shredded Parm or you can also find prepackaged blocks you can shred yourself in the dairy case with the block cheeses. It comes in a wedge)
3 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto, chopped (I used about a cup to 1.5 cups crumbled ground beef here, you can also use italian sausage or cook some turkey sausage...just make sure you cook the meat first, whatever you choose! Harris Teeter does carry prosciutto now though...it's in the deli, made by Dietz&Watson and it runs about $13/lb. fyi)
1 large egg, beaten to blend
3/4 teaspoon salt, plus more for salting water
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil
12 uncooked lasagna noodles
2 cups marinara sauce
1 cup shredded mozzarella (about 4 ounces)

Now for the directions:

To make the sauce: Melt the butter in a heavy medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the flour and whisk for 3 minutes. Whisk in the milk. Increase the heat to medium-high. Whisk the sauce until it comes to a simmer and is thick and smooth, about 3 minutes. Whisk the salt, pepper, and nutmeg into the bechamel sauce.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Whisk the ricotta, spinach, 1 cup Parmesan, prosciutto, egg, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl to blend.

Add a tablespoon or 2 of oil to a large pot of boiling salted water. Boil the noodles until just tender but still firm to bite. Drain. Arrange the noodles in a single layer on a baking sheet to prevent them from sticking. (I like to put foil on my baking sheets to eliminate another dirty dish...but even better, you can just put the foil directly on your counter top. Please though, PLEASE drizzle some Olive Oil on the foil first...spread it around with your fingers or a napkin...this will keep the pasta from sticking to it. There is a lot of starch in the lasagna and they will stick as they dry if you're not careful. If you use oil, you don't have anything to worry about!

Butter a 13-by-9-by-2-inch glass baking dish. Pour the bechamel sauce over the bottom of the prepared dish. Lay out 4 lasagna noodles on a work surface (your work surface should be another lightly oiled piece of foil), then spread about 3 tablespoons of ricotta mixture evenly over each noodle. Starting at 1 end, roll each noodle like a jelly roll. Lay the lasagna rolls seam side down, without touching, atop the bechamelsauce in the dish. Repeat with the remaining noodles and ricotta mixture. Spoon 1 cup of marinara sauce over the lasagna rolls. Sprinkle the mozzarella and remaining 2 tablespoons of Parmesan over the lasagna rolls. Cover tightly with foil. Bake until heated through and the sauce bubbles, about 20 minutes. Uncover and bake until the cheese on top becomes golden, about 15 minutes longer. Let stand for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the remaining marinara sauce in a heavy small saucepan over medium heat until hot, and serve alongside.