Everyone will want seconds
Fifteen years ago, I married into an Italian American family and quickly realized that every tender memory involved a loud, full table and plates of cheesy lasagna. I make the family’s heirloom recipe for special occasions, but for those nights in between, I tend to tinker with the recipe.
So far, my favorite iteration is lasagna roll-ups. This classic dinner includes the same tender sheets of pasta, meaty marinara sauce and creamy ricotta filling. But it’s more fun to make and much easier to serve because every person gets their own saucy spiral.
Key ingredients Marinara sauce:
Choose a good-quality store-bought sauce or make marinara from scratch.
Mozzarella cheese: Buy pre-shredded or shred your own mozzarella cheese. Look for the blocks of low-moisture mozzarella, not the rounds of fresh mozzarella for this recipe.
Parmesan cheese: The salty, funky flavor of Parmesan cheese can’t be beat. Add half of the grated Parmesan cheese to the ricotta filling and save the rest for topping the roll-ups.
Ricotta cheese: Whole-milk ricotta cheese has a creamy texture. Avoid lower-fat options, which have a rubbery consistency.
Egg: A single egg adds richness to the ricotta cheese filling and helps give it some structure, so that the cheese doesn’t slide out of the pasta spirals.
Lasagna noodles: This recipe was developed with regular dried lasagna noodles, not no-boil.
Onion and garlic: Sauteed onion and garlic is the secret to adding homemade flavor to store-bought marinara sauce.
Ground beef: Use lean ground beef so you don’t have to drain off excess fat. Ground turkey (not ground turkey breast) can be substituted.
Tips for making roll-ups Stack noodles between parchment paper:
Boiled lasagna noodles really want to stick together once they are drained. Arrange the noodles so they are ready to roll by filling a rimmed baking sheet with a single layer of noodles. Top with parchment paper, add another layer of lasagna noodles and repeat.
Form an assembly line: Place the ricotta mixture and beefy marinara sauce nearby, then add the fillings to the cooked lasagna noodles assembly-line style. This is also a really great time for kids to help with preparing dinner.
Begin baking covered with foil: Cover the roll-ups with aluminum foil to trap some of the heat inside the casserole dish and to avoid over-browning the cheese.
LASAGNA ROLL-UPS
Makes: 6 servings
Cooking spray
1 medium yellow onion
2 cloves garlic
8 ounces low-moisture mozzarella cheese 2 ounces Parmesan cheese
12 dried lasagna noodles (not no-boil, about
of a 1-pound box)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoons kosher salt, divided, plus more for cooking noodles
1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 12 ounces lean ground beef
1 (24- to 32-ounce) jar marinara sauce
1 (15- to 16-ounce) container whole-milk ricotta cheese
1 large egg
1. Arrange a rack in the middle of the oven and heat the oven to 375 degrees. Coat a 9-by-13-inch baking dish and a rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray.
2. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over medium-high heat. Meanwhile, dice 1 medium yellow onion (about 1 cups) and mince 2 garlic cloves. Grate 8 ounces lowmoisture mozzarella cheese on large holes of a box grater (about 2 cups). Finely grate 2 ounces Parmesan cheese on small holes of a box grater (about 1 cup packed), if needed, or measure out cup store-bought grated.
3. Add 12 dried lasagna noodles to the boiling water and cook 1 minute less than package directions, about 7 minutes. Drain and arrange 5 to 6 noodles in a single layer on the baking sheet and top with a sheet of parchment paper. Repeat with another layer of noodles, more parchment paper and a third layer of noodles on top.
4. Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add onion, 1 teaspoon of kosher salt, 1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning and
teaspoon black pepper. Cook until onion is tender and just beginning to brown, 4 to 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Add 12 ounces lean ground beef and cook, breaking up the meat into smaller pieces with a wooden spoon, until browned and cooked through, 5 to 7 minutes. Add 1 jar marinara sauce, stir to combine and remove from the heat.
5. Spread 1 cups of the meat sauce evenly over the bottom of the prepared baking dish.
6. Place 1 container whole-milk ricotta cheese, 1 large egg, the remaining teaspoon kosher salt, cup of the mozzarella cheese and half of the Parmesan cheese in a large bowl and stir to combine.
7. Spread about 3 tablespoons of the ricotta mixture and 1 tablespoon of the meat sauce onto each lasagna noodle. Starting at a short end, roll them up one by one. Arrange seamside down in the baking dish. Spoon the remaining meat sauce over the lasagna rolls and sprinkle with the remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses.
8. Cover baking dish tightly with aluminum foil. Bake for 10 minutes. Uncover and bake until sauce is bubbling around edges, lasagna rolls are heated through, and the cheeses are beginning to brown, 15 to 20 minutes more. If your baking dish is broiler-safe, turn the oven to broil and broil until the cheese on top is browned in spots, 1 to 2 minutes.
Make ahead: The lasagna roll-ups can be assembled and refrigerated unbaked up to two days in advance, or frozen for up to one month. Thaw the frozen lasagna roll-ups for in the refrigerator before baking.