Veggie Lasagna Rolls

Yesterday, was my son's first day back to preschool. For me, the first day of school is always a special day and I wanted to make a special dinner to celebrate.

I decided I'd make a lasagna. I love lasagna and so does the rest of my family. However, I didn't want to be slaving away in the kitchen trying to assemble and cook everything. After all, this is my son's first year going to school full day and I wanted to spend some quality time with him, hearing all about it.

That's why I decided to make lasagna rolls instead. The recipe comes from the cookbook, Kissing in the Kitchen by Kevin Roberts. I love this recipe b/c it doesn't have a gazillion ingredients and steps. Also, I kept this pretty healthy by using part-skim cheeses and including lots of different veggies in the mix.

The best part was that I got the entire lasagna assembled while my son was at school and my daughter napped. When it was time for dinner, I just pulled it from the fridge and placed it in the oven.

I would make just one minor change next time. I think some homemade or good quality jarred tomato sauce would be great in this dish. However, since I didn't have either, I just used a can of plain tomato sauce. This was still very good though...enjoy!

Before: All assembled and ready for the fridge.

After: Just out of the oven...all hot and bubbly.



Ingredients
5 servings

1 egg
1 pound ricotta cheese (I used part-skim)
1 1/2 cups fresh mozzarella cheese (divided use) (I used 2% mozzarella)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup mixed zucchini and spinach, finely chopped, seasoned and sauteed (I used a mix of broccoli, mushroom, zucchini and carrot)
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
Garlic salt and pepper, to taste
10 lasagna noodles, cooked
2 cups tomato sauce (divided use)

Directions
I started by finely chopping all the veggies in a food processor. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine egg, ricotta, 1 cup mozzarella, Parmesan, vegetables and parsley, and mix well. Season with garlic salt and pepper, tasting a little to adjust seasoning.
Lay cooked lasagna noodles out on the counter. Spread a thin layer of the vegetable and cheese mixture evenly over the entire noodle. Repeat with all the noodles. Starting at one end, roll up each noodle. In a 9-by-9-inch baking dish, evenly spread 1 cup of tomato sauce. Lay the rolls in the dish, seam side down.
Pour the remaining tomato sauce on top of the rolls and sprinkle with the remaining mozzarella cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes. (or until hot and bubbly)