May 05, 2005

Lasagna Rolls Recipe

Giada De Laurentiis of "Every Day Italian" had an episode air recently for Lasagna Rolls.  They looked AWESOME, but as always I have to alter recipes to make them taste the way I want them to taste.  This particular recipe was great, so I only had to change a few things.  Here is my recipe for Lasagna Rolls: 

Bechamel Sauce:
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
1 1/4 cups whole milk
coarse salt & ground black pepper to taste
Freshly ground nutmeg to taste

Lasagna:
1 (15-ounce) container whole milk ricotta cheese
1 pound ground Italian sausage, browned and drained
1 cup plus extra couple of handfuls of grated Parmesan
1 large egg, beaten to blend
small handful of chopped Italian Parsley
freshly ground black pepper & coarse salt to taste
A couple of glugs of olive oil
12 uncooked lasagna noodles
1 1/2 cups marinara sauce
3/4 cup shredded mozzarella

To make the sauce: Melt the butter in a heavy medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the flour and whisk for a few minutes until you can smell a nice nutty aroma. Whisk in the milk all at once. Increase the heat and simmer until it is thick and smooth (this doesn't take long).  Add salt, pepper and nutmeg to taste. 

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F and butter a 13x9x2 baking pan/dish.

Start water boiling in a large, wide pan.  Once boiling add salt and a couple of glugs of olive oil.  Boil the noodles until they are al dente (I do four at a time, which works out nicely).   

Mix ricotta, Italian sausage, 1 cup Parmesan, egg, salt, and pepper together.

Pour the bechamel sauce into the baking dish.  Put enough of the fillng mixture on each noodle to cover it, and roll up the noodle, placing the seam side down in the pan.  Once all rolled, pour the marinara sauce over the rolls and then cover with the shredded mozzarella cheese and a couple of handfuls of grated Parmesan cheese.      

Cover tightly with foil and bake in the oven for about 20 minutes (the sauce will bubble when it is ready). Uncover and bake another 15 minutes (the cheese will get nice and brown). 

Enjoy with a nice crusty garlic bread!