Spinach, Mushroom Lasagna Rollups

When I am meal planning , Spinach Mushroom Onion lasagna inevitably makes the short list 9 out of 10 times.  I think this is because I just luv lasagna, I find this to be a very satisfying comfort food, that brings back so many memories from my childhood with the family all sitting around the dinner table, and as a young mom feeding those hungry children of mine.

As the kids got older the amount of lasagna I prepared got larger! I learned how to make enough lasagna for a football team all at once, and also because lasagna is the absolute best leftovers ever, hands down.

I am pretty sure that this is one of the few dishes that get better with age, from refrigerator to oven for at least a few meals.

My best lasagna comes from making the pasta sauce a day ahead,  letting the sauce simmer in those flavors all day and all night filling the house with all those wonderful tomato and herb aromas.

There is no Italian grandma in the family so after much trial and error I had to learn what works and what does not for the lasagna.

Here is what I learned first hand

1. Add a good amount of olive oil to the bottom of the baking dish, before adding the noodles, this way they do not stick
2. A quick rinse to the cooked noodles is the only way to go, this will keep the noodles from turning into a sticky mess.
3. If you go the extra step and sprinkle parmesan on the sauce on the bottom of the dish before the noodles goes in, this gives the bottom layer a nice cheesy flavor.
4. Ricotta cheese is your friend. Gets along with mozzarella and has a wonderful flavor
5. You can add ground cooked Italian sausage to replace the mushrooms and olive, for a meat dish.

I went from filling my baking dish with layers of noodles, cheese, spinach, mushrooms, sauce, and cheese to making lasagna rollups, you get the same beautiful lasagna, yet each noodle is rolled up after the filling goes in.  I find this is better for my portion control as well.

Rolling up the noodles is super easy, first prepare the filling, mixing well, boil the noodles and put the two together, as simple as that.

Place the rollups in the dish seam side down.

Repeat the process until the baking dish is filled rim to rim with stuffed noodles.

Once all the noodles are packed in tight, pour the sauce over them, sprinkle with as much  parmesan as you want.

You will want to bake at 350 for about 35 mins, however oven baking times do vary.

Print Recipe

Spinach, Mushroom Lasagna Rollups

Author: Long Ears Farm Cooking Method: Oven Baked Cuisine: Italian Courses: Dinner

Difficulty: Intermediate Prep Time 29 min Cook Time 24 min Rest Time 9 min Total Time 1 hr 2 mins

Servings: 4

Best Season: Winter

Ingredients

Servings

• 12 uncooked lasagna noodles
• 2 eggs lightly beaten
• 12 ounces chopped fresh mushrooms
• 10 ounces frozen spinach (thawed & squeezed dry)
• 1 white onion (chopped)
• 2.25 ounces chopped black olives
• 2.5 cups ricotta cheese
• 2.5 cups shredded mozerella
• ¹⁄₂ cup parmesan cheese (grated)
• ¹⁄₄ teaspoon salt
• ¹⁄₄ teaspoon pepper
• ¹⁄₈ teaspoon nutmeg (ground)
• 24 ounces pasta sauce (meatless is best)

Instructions

1. Prepare Noodles and filling

   Cook lasagna noodles in salted water, according to package directions, rinse in cool water when done.

   While the noodles cook, sauté the mushrooms and onions in butter, stir in black olives, drain and let cool.

   Mix the eggs, spinach, mushrooms, onions ricotta, mozzarella, parmesan, salt and pepper and nutmeg in a large mixing bowl.

   When well blended, fold in the sausage.

    

   

2. Make the noodle rollups.

   Flatten out the noodles, one at a time, spread the mixture over each noodle.

   

   Roll up each noodle and place into the baking dish , seam side down

    

   

3. Finish the dish

   When the dish is full of stuffed and rolled noodles,  generously spoon sauce over them.

   

   Bake at 375, loosely covered with foil, for 20 mins.