Veggie Lasagna Rolls

Lasagna Rolls

They are as easy as 1, 2, 3... At least I thought so. Pretty simple and easy to make. These are so good... I forgot to get a picture of them when they were fully baked. They went fast!

Ingredients:

1 box Lasagna noodles*

2 zucchini, sliced thin

6 roma tomato's, sliced thin

1 small ricotta cheese container

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

2 Tbsp pesto

2 cups mozzarella cheese

1 jar alfredo sauce

1 jar spaghetti sauce

2 eggs

4 Tbsp italian seasoning, plus some to taste

Directions:

Boil water and cook Lasagna noodles until Al Dente, rinse with cold water and set aside. While noodles are cooking.... In a medium bowl combine the ricotta cheese, egg, pesto, parmesan cheese, and 1/2 of the Italian seasoning... stir until combined. Set aside. Cut/slice the zucchini and place in a bowl. I used my kitchen-aid slicing attachment to slice my zucchini. Next, slice the Roma tomato's, thinly. A mandolin slicer would work well to slice thin, I just didn't have one. 

Prepare 13X9 baking pan by pouring about 1/3 of the spaghetti sauce in the bottom of the pan. Set aside.

Preheat oven 375F.

Once the noodles are cooked, cooled and drained, and all ingredients are sliced and/or mixed... it's time for assembly. Take a tablespoon and spread a spoonful of the ricotta mixture on the lasagna noodle. Then layer zucchini on top of the ricotta mixture and finally add the thinly sliced roma tomato's. Roll from one end over the other until makes a sort of "ball"(using word loosely, see pic above).  Repeat until pan is full.

Once pan is full pour remaining spaghetti sauce over the lasagna rolls, and then pour the alfredo sauce over the spaghetti sauce. Top with Mozzarella cheese. Cover with Foil.

Can be frozen and baked later or baked right away.

Bake 375F for 30 minutes, then remove foil and bake an additional 20 min. 

* Can be Gluten-Free if you use Gluten-Free lasagna noodles.

Serve with salad, and garlic bread. 

Garlic Bread...

Take sliced bread and 2 sticks of melted butter. mix in to the butter about 3 tbsp italian seasoning and 2 Tbsp garlic powder. Spread butter mixture over bread with a pastry brush and bake or broil. Bake for 7 min until brown, or broil until slightly brown on top. 

Zucchini Spinach Lasagna (gluten-free)

Gluten-Free Zucchini Spinach Lasagna

The picture may not look very appetizing but it is so delicious! Tonights dinner was a throw together. I had gotten a LARGE zucchini from a neighbor and I had a bag of spinach I got discounted from the grocery store last week that needed to be used up. I didn't want to worry about boiling noodles and I wanted to get dinner on the table quickly. This is a great recipe for quick, easy and delicious. This recipe was so easy. I didn't have ricotta cheese or cottage cheese for a typical lasagna dish. So I didn't worry about it. It was a little piece of inspiration. I thought as I was making it that I should take pictures along the way, but since I didn't know if it would be any good, I decided against it. I totally should have taken pictures! I will be making this again.

Ingredients:

1 lb bulk sausage (I used a homemade Tuscan sausage)
1 LARGE zucchini (sliced thin on a mandolin)
1 bag spinach (fresh)
1 26oz spaghetti sauce (prepackaged - I used Hunts 4 cheese)
2.5 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup parmesan cheese
4 Tbsp Italian seasoning

Directions:

Preheat oven 350F

Brown the bulk sausage in a pan. While it's browning slice the zucchini into thin slices.  Once the sausage is browned, drain fat, then add the spaghetti sauce. Stir to combine. In a 13X9X2 baking dish, layer first the sausage mixture, about 1/2 of the mixture. Evenly distribute on the bottom. then add a layer of zucchini sliced just like you would pasta. Next add a layer of spinach about 1/2 the bag (remember this will shrink as it cooks). Then sprinkle 1/2 a cup of parmesan cheese, 1 cup cheddar cheese and 2 Tbsp italian seasoning on top. Then repeat. The final layer will be the cheese on top of the spinach. Cover with foil, and bake for 30 min. Then remove foil and bake another 6 minutes. Remove from oven, let cool about 5 minutes before slicing.

***Verdict - I LOVED IT! This was so delicious. I can hardly believe I've never tried this kind of thing before. My oldest loved it, the other younger two were a little put off with the spinach/zucchini, but not for taste, just for looks. They said it tasted good. My husband ate his all gone and said he liked it. I only have two pieces left. I had two helpings! (I didn't even feel guilty eating two helpings!) This was an easy delicious, gluten free meal.

Chunky Veggie Beef Stew

Ok, So I had a little left over from my beef roast yesterday. I decided I didn't want to do too much mess today, since I'm still trying to finish from the mess this weekend. So I decided to use up some veggies in the fridge, and the left over beef from dinner last night. Here's what I created.

It looks like a yummy beef stew, with chunks of veggies, big carrot bits, potatoes, zucchini, squash, spinach, and onions. With bite size chunks of the yummy roast from last night. Ah, my mouth is already watering. Because most of my carrots are still raw, I cut them up and layered them on the bottom of the pan, to help them cook better. Then I placed the red potatoes that only need heating from yesterday on top of the carrots. Then the fresh veggies went on top of that. Covered in the gravy from the beef roast last night, which had carrots and onions in it. Then cut up the beef into small bite size pieces and put that on top. I had found about 1 cup or 1 1/2 cup of beef stock in the fridge to add a little extra beef flavoring and liquid to the meal. Now it's all sitting in the slow cooker. Dinner will be yummy. I will either make biscuits, or rolls to go with it. I haven't decided yet. along with an apple pie for dessert. Tempted to make another dutch apple pie like I made last night, it was a huge hit!

Chucky Veggie Beef Stew

Ingredients:

6 carrots, cut into chunks

1 zucchini sliced and chunks

2 small squashes sliced and chunked

5 baby red potatoes (mine are left over from a previous meal, and precooked)

Brown gravy about 2 cups (mine is is from a previous meal, leftover)

1 box chopped spinach (drained)

1 1/2 cup beef broth

about 1 lb or 1 1/2 lb beef roast (leftover from previous meal) cut into bite size pieces

1/2 onion for flavor, cut into large chunks

Add all ingredients into slow cooker, low for 6 hours. High for 3 hours.

Serve with rolls or biscuits.

The verdict> I was surprised by how well this turned out. My husband didn't think the kids would eat it. I had my reservations, but I had hoped they would. And to his surprise and my gratitude,... they ate it all, well at least all of their portion. I have enough for a second night of soup. That will be part of our leftovers night. :) But they all said how yummy it was and that they liked the spinach and the zucchini. Those were amazing words coming from my kids. It was a tasty and satisfying soup. I'll be making this again. :)