Lasagna Rolls with Sausage & Chicken

So last weekend was quite the weekend, crawfish boils and wild turkey. But we topped it off with what’s now becoming a weekend tradition, dinner at John and Whitney’s. They’re some friends I met through Matt who we’ve gone camping and dirt biking with in the past, but lately we’ve been over at there house a lot more. And they’ve got quite the house. Most of my friends live in the average college type house, but they’ve got it made. A huge two story house with a pool, hammock, big kitchen, and used to have a pool table. It puts any other house to shame. So naturally they’ve got the party house.

One of the things I like about dinners at their house is everyone brings stuff and shares. It’s always like a buffet of food. Lots of drinking, lots of food, how can you go wrong?

So last weekend we decided to go with an italian night. I decided to make lasagna! But I chose to make it differently. Instead of laying sheets of noodles, I would put a layer of filling on the noodle and then roll it up. Lasagna rolls! They were really great because it made individual portions for the crowd. And it prevented all the fillings from squeezing out when you cut normal lasagna.

Whitney made the cheesy bread, garlic bread, and salad to go with the meal too. The cheesy bread is to die for!

As with any recipe that I post, be creative. They’re more like guidelines. Use what you have on hand, add more if you like it.

Lasagna Rolls
Recipe adapted from goodLife {eats}
Serves an army

15 oz. part skim ricotta cheese
1/2 cup sundried tomatoes packed in oil, drained and rinsed
10 oz. frozen chopped spinach, thawed, squeezed dry
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons grated Romano
1 large egg, beaten to blend
3/4 tsp salt, plus more for salting water
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 Tbs fresh parsley, chopped
1 tsp lemon zest
1 to 2 Tbs olive oil
12 uncooked lasagna noodles
2 cups marinara sauce
1 cup shredded mozzarella (about 4 ounces)
1 package of mild italian sausage
1/2 a rotisserie chicken (leftovers)
marina sauce

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

2. Make the filling by combining ricotta, spinach, parmesan cheese, sun dried tomatoes, parsley, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and lemon zest. Taste for seasoning. Add the egg and stir until combined.

3. 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.

4. Butter a 13-by-9-by-2-inch glass baking dish. Pour pasta sauce so that it covers the entire pan. Lay out 4 lasagna noodles on a work surface, 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, on the pasta sauce in the dish. Repeat with the remaining noodles and ricotta mixture.

5. Cover the rolls with pasta sauce. Sprinkle the mozzarella and 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. Garnish with chopped basil leaves.