Lasagna Roll Ups

Lately I have become I fan of freezer meals. This recipe right here is great for the left overs to be put in the freezer for later on, since they are in individual servings (very nice for college students, like this one here.)  I didn't realize that making lasagna is a little more time consuming than I imagined, but it wasn't too bad. One very nice thing about this recipe is that it's not too saucy! You know what I mean, when the noodles and everything are falling apart because there's so much sauce?! These don't have that problem. Hope you can try this sometime--don't even think about opening that box of Stoufer's.

Lasagna Roll-Ups 
(Adapted from http://cookingclassy.blogspot.com/2012/02/lasagna-roll-ups.html)
makes 12

Ingredients:
4 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil, divided
1/2 lb lean ground beef
1/4 cup finely chopped yellow onion
1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes (I'd recommend Contadina Brand)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 Tbsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste


1 (15 oz) container Ricotta Cheese
1 large egg
1/3 cup fresh flat leaf parsley (aka Italian Parsley, its about 1 small handful), chopped
2 1/4 cups freshly grated Mozzarella Cheese, divided
3/4 cup freshly, finely grated Parmesan Cheese, divided
1/3 cup freshly, finely grated Romano Cheese
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper


12 uncooked lasagna noodles (you can use oven-ready if that's all you have, just don't boil them! Soak them in water instead. Details are below.)

Directions:
      Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Drizzle one tablespoon olive oil into a large non-stick fry pan.  Heat over medium high heat, crumble ground beef over oil, add chopped onions and cook mixture stirring occasionally and breaking up meat, until browned.  Drain fat from beef and chop up the mixture into small pieces.  Add crushed tomatoes, minced garlic, basil, oregano and 1 tablespoon olive oil and stir.  Season sauce with salt and pepper to taste then cover with a lid and simmer over low heat while preparing pasta and cheese mixture.
      Cook lasagna noodles in a large pot of boiling water along with 1 tsp salt and 2 tablespoon olive oil to al dente according to directions listed on package. (If you are using oven-ready, then soak them in a bowl water for about a half hour, or until they are tender enough to roll up--but don't boil them if they are oven ready because they will fall apart. Be very careful peeling them apart.)  Once noodles are cooked, drain and immediately line noodles in a single layer on waxed paper, Seran Wrap, or cookie sheets.  
      Prepare cheese mixture (I did this while pasta is cooking) by stirring together Ricotta cheese, egg, 1/4 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper with a fork in a large mixing bowl until well combine.  Stir in chopped fresh parsley.  Add in 1 3/4 cups grated Mozzarella Cheese, 1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese and 1/3 cup Romano Cheese, stir mixture until well combine.
  Spread 1/4 cup cheese mixture evenly onto each cooked lasagna noodle, then spread 1 heaping tablespoon meat sauce along the top of cheese covered noodle.  Roll noodles up jellyroll style and arrange seam side down in baking dish.  Cover rolled noodles with remaining meat sauce (about a heaping 1/8 cup over each) then sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup Mozzarella Cheese and 1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese evenly over roll ups.  Tent lasagna roll ups with foil (don't allow foil to rest on cheese or it will stick you just want to loosely tent to prevent the cheese from browning) and bake for 35 minutes in preheated oven.  Serve warm garnished with additional chopped fresh parsley.