Lasagna can be a tedious dish to prepare with all those layers and different sauces to prepare. But then again who doesn’t like lasagna right?
Here’s a way to not only simplify the process of making lasagna, but also serving it. With these lasagna rolls, you won’t have the hassle of slicing the lasagna only to have the layered stuffing fall out into a mess on the plate. Granted, it does still taste good…but if you want to make fancier individual servings if lasagna…Lasagna rolls are the way to go. After trying this, I don’t think you’d go back to making the traditional layered lasagna again. What ever your favorite flavors and sauces are, you can roll it up into neat individual sized portions that hold up a lot better and make serving it a cinche!
Lasagna Rolls Recipe
Ingredients:
12 uncooked lasagna sheets
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 lb ground turkey/ ground beef
1/2 an onion
3-4 cloves of garlic
2 cups of crushed tomatoes or tomato puree
2 Tbsp dried Italian seasoning (mix herbs)
1 tsp dried red pepper flakes (optional for heat)
Salt and ground black pepper, to taste
1 (15 oz) container Ricotta Cheese
1 large egg
2 handfuls of fresh flat leaf parsley
1 cup grated Mozzarella Cheese, divided
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan Cheese
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
Method:
– Finely chop the onion and garlic.
– Heat the olive oil in a deep fry pan and saute the garlic and onion till soft. Add the ground turkey/ beef and stir to break up the meat.
– Season the meat with Salt, pepper, the Italian seasoning (mix herbs) and red pepper flakes for heat and let the meat cook and brown.
– For restaurant style meat sauce, drain the meat of any excess fat in the pan and pulse the meat mix in a food processor for about minute until the meat breaks down into smaller grains.(you can skip this step if it’s too much hassle and you like the rustic-ness of homemade meat sauce).
– Return the meat to the pan and add the tomato puree or crushed tomatoes. If you use tomato puree you may have to add about a cup of water. Let it simmer gently for about 10-15 minutes. Taste and check for seasoning.
– While that’s bubbling away you can get started with lasagna sheets. Cook the lasagna sheets in salted water according to the instructions on the packet.
– In a mixing bowl, add the ricotta cheese, half the mozzarella, half the parmesan cheese, a handful of parsley, an egg, salt and pepper and mix well.
– To assemble the lasagna rolls, lay the sheets out on parchment or wax paper. Spread the ricotta cheese mix along the sheets, then spoon some of the meat mix on each sheet as well. Roll up each of the lasagna sheets individually.
– In the bottom of the baking dish you’re going to use, spread a thin layer of the meat sauce. Then place the lasagna rolls in the dish and top with some more meat sauce. Spread the remaining mozzarella, parmesan cheese and parsley evenly over the top.
– Cover the dish with foil making sure it’s not touching the cheese at all and bake at 375F for 35-40 minutes.
Print Recipe
Just to be clear, I think you are a freakin’ genius.
Looks delicious. Although simple, I can see the effort you have put in. Great fotography. Wish I could have a take away now asap. 🙂
Very Tempting!!!!!!!!!!Great pics. Easy step to step procedures. Great job Noreen. Keep it up.
I will have to try these with turkey, probably a bit healthier =).
Awesome photos! These look sooo appetizing. I love the step by step pics! Wonderful site and great recipe. Will be bookmarking.
Saw this on FoodGawker….looks great! I have seen lots of recipes for rolled lasagna, but never with a meat sauce. I can’t wait to try them!
Delicious, mouth watering
I just had this and it is DELISH!! I don’t think I will go back to layering my lasagna
I made this today and the Lasagna Rolls came out great. The flavors work well together and the rolls are much easier to plate.
The taste is wonderful and I will make it again.
Thank you for sharing this!
How many does this recipe service?
Oops! Serve!!
It makes 12 lasagna rolls.
Your recipes and site is amazing!! can’t wait to try these out x
Thanks FoodJunkie! It means a lot 🙂
Hello 🙂
I’m making this tomorrow for iftari 🙂
Can I just clarify, how do I fold uncooked lasagne sheets? I mean they be rock hard out the packet?
Please help x
Hi Aisha, You have to pre-boil the lasagna sheets before you roll them. If you try with uncooked sheets they will break. Also they won’t cook enough if you just bake them. Boil the lasagna sheets according to the intructions on the packet then stuff and roll them. Hope that helps.
I am making your lasagna rolls and wanted to know how well ( if at all) they would freeze if I were to make the rolls but just omit adding the last couple of steps until I am ready to defrost them or take them out of the fridge and finish things up. Any feedback would be awesome. Thanks so much.
Hi Jennifer! I have never really frozen this dish before, but I see no reason as to why it wouldn’t hold up as the meat sauce and noodles are pre-cooked. I would just make the whole thing in an oven proof casserole dish, pull it out the freezer a few hours before you want to cook it and pop it in the oven to bake. Just make sure to cover your dish with tinfoil or something like that so it steams and heats up the dish thoroughly. I’d love to hear how it goes if you try freezing it. 🙂 Good luck!
Can’t wait to try this recipe! Curious though, does this yield 12 full lasagne rolls? Thanks!
Yes, this recipe does yield 12 lasagne rolls even though I have only pictured 6. It was just the two of us for dinner so I saved the remaining meat sauce and filling for another day 🙂
I can’t wait to try these! Can I prepare these the night before and bake them the day of? Do they keep well overnight?
Absolutely! As they it is mostly pre-cooked there’s no issues if you want to make it ahead of time and bake it when you’re ready to serve!
We made these over the weekend and they were SO incredible! I really love that they solve the two main problems with lasagna, portioning and serving. The innards didn’t flop all over the place and the roll up really did make for the perfect portion. They were also really fun to make! I added chopped spinach to mine and roasted some roma tomatoes and garlic to add to the tomato sauce. SO amazing! I’m recommending this A+ recipe to everyone! Thank youuuu so much I hope you know how much love and yum you added to our weekend with this recipe! <3
That is so wonderful to hear Alice, thank you! If it weren’t for my picky husband and step-daughter I would add a spinach layer too…cos that’s my favorite kind of lasagna 🙂 I’m really glad you liked the recipe and it turned out well for you! If your family ware fans of Tuna noodle casserole you should try it in this style too to mix things up a little 😉 http://picturetherecipe.com/index.php/recipes/tuna-lasagna-rolls/
omg i made this for dinner and they were amazing !! tks
I was wondering, to speed things up a little bit, could you use spaghetti sauce in place of paste or crushed tomatoes?
Absolutely! You can use spaghetti sauce. It might be a little runnier…but it’ll work just the same.
Will all 12 rolls fit in a 9×13 baking dish?
No
I made this recently it was lovely!! Added Some extra veggies at step 1 ( Bell pepper and leek) and Some finely chopped tomatoes added in with the sauce, delicious!! Thanx for the great recipe and the easy to follow step by step directions:))
Gone make this more often.
Sounds delicious!!
On the neat are you using 1/2lb turkey AND 1/2lb beef? Or doing one or the other?
Thanks! Making for dinner 🙂
I used just 1/2 lb turkey but you can use beef or any meat of your choosing. The measurement is 1/2lb meat of your choice. 🙂
Hi Noreen!
I didn’t strictly follow this recipe (I cooked and drained the meat before I added the spices
I didn’t put meat sauce on the bottom of the pan nor on the bottom
I didn’t put them in the oven for 40 mins [more like 15 mins])
Nevertheless, it was a delicious meal! Can’t wait to make them again!
have you ever frozen them? Iam making meals ahead of time for my husband while im gone and was hoping you had experience with putting these in the freezer and how long to cook them frozen?
Made these tonight. I accidentally put in 28oz of crushed tomatoes (the big can) but somehow still ran out of meat sauce so the top of mine had no topping other than cheese. I was able to fit 12 in a regular 9×13 pyrex dish. I do not think they were overstuffed because all of the filling was contained inside the noodle. They actually looked less filled than the photos above. Next time I will probably add the other half lb of meat and another can of sauce if I am making 12…
I cooked for 30 minutes and should have cooked for about 10 more minutes.
Really delicious…even without the topping sauce. Will make again!