Meatless Monday: Spinach Roll-Ups

Welcome to my annual recipe crush. Each February I choose a theme, and provide one or two recipes each day for the whole month. This year the theme is Weekly Menu Planning. What are the categories, you ask? We have Sunday Special, Meatless Monday, Taco Tuesday, Worldly Wednesday, Thrifty Thursday, Fishy Friday, and Celebrate Saturday.

Lasagna noodles are so versatile. You can layer them, chop them into pieces, or roll them up with a stuffing. I always have a box on hand to use in a variety of ways. We all have our own lasagna recipes, vegetarian and meat-lovers. Here’s a tip for you: I never precook my noodles for lasagna, nor do I buy the more expensive packages which say no pre-cooking required. Nope. I make an extra gloopy sauce so the sauce thickens as the noodles soften during baking. Works every time.

And you probably do with I do with the inevitable broken noodles. I cook up the pieces and cover with some sauce or I drop them into soup. Sometimes I toss the cooked pieces with butter and tarragon and put on a dinner salad.

But how often have you rolled them up? For this recipe, and other roll-ups, I have to precook the lasagna noodles to al dente. That’s the hardest part! Even your kids can make this recipe!

The recipe’s origin is lost in the mists of time, I’ve been making it so long. I don’t even have a “real” recipe for it because I just dump ingredients together. I had to stop and gasp) measure as I made this recipe. The things I do for you people!

 

Cheesy Spinach Roll-Ups (serves 5)

10 lasagna noodles, al dente

15 ounces ricotta cheese (store-bought or M-Y-O)

1 cup shredded Asiago, divided

1 egg, beaten

salt and pepper to taste

1 tablespoon dried basil plus, more for sprinkling before baking

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 package chopped spinach, frozen; drained

1 ½ cup Alfredo sauce, homemade or store-bought, divided

        

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.

Cook noodles per package directions and set aside, separated, so they don’t stick together.

Blend together the ricotta and ½ cup Asiago with the egg until thoroughly incorporated. Add salt and pepper, basil, and garlic powder. Mix thoroughly.

Squeeze as much liquid as possible from the spinach, then break up clumps in a small dish.

Put ½ cup Alfredo sauce in the bottom of a prepared baking dish.

Lay out the noodles on a flat surface and divide the cheese mixture among them. Distribute cheese mixture along the length of the noodle, but keeping both ends uncovered.

 

Distribute spinach on top of the cheese mixture. Roll up each noodle and place seam side down in the baking dish. Nestle the noodles tightly. Cover with the remaining Alfredo sauce and Asiago cheese. Sprinkle on basil.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes, until the top just begins to brown. Serve immediately with a salad.

Okay, you have everything you need but ricotta cheese. Don’t dash out to the store. Make Your Own.

Bonus recipe: M-Y-O Homemade Ricotta Cheese

2 quarts whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 fine mesh cheesecloth

Place a layer of cheesecloth over a sieve with fine holes and place it over a large bowl.

Slowly bring milk, cream, and salt to a rolling boil in a large heavy pot over moderate heat. Stir occasionally to prevent scorching.

Add lemon juice and reduce heat to low. Simmer, stirring constantly, until the milk curdles, about 2 minutes.

Pour the milk mixture into the lined sieve and let it drain 1 hour. Discard the liquid in the bowl. Roll the ricotta off the cheese cloth into a container with a lid. Chill until ready to use. Keeps two days in the refrigerator.

DH’s Rating: 5 Tongues Up

This is one of his fall-time favorite Meatless Monday meals, and it makes enough that we have leftovers for another evening. Cook once, eat twice!