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I love the ease of no bake lasagna noodles. It just makes the lasagna making process that much easier. However, boil and bake noodles must be used with making lasagna roll-ups. I had forgotten how much I dislike boiling the lasagna noodles because they stick to the pan and to each other. Today was no different. I began with 13 noodles in hopes of ending with 12. No such luck. One stick to the bottom of the pan and another somehow ended up with holes all through it. I did end up with 11 noodles which turned out to be perfect for us.
The roll-ups are fairly easy to make thanks to lightly sautéing the eggplant ahead of time. These roll-ups are delicious and really filling. My husband liked the fact that only a small amount of ricotta cheese was used. I just liked that they had lots of veggies and less cheese then I would use in traditional lasagna. There is plenty of flavor from the spices, onion, garlic, and cheeses. However, next time I think I’d add a cup of spinach to the ricotta cheese to add some additional flavor and vitamins.
The first night we enjoyed these as they were with salad and garlic bread. They are surprisingly large and between the two of us we only ended up eating 6 of them. The next night my husband made spaghetti, then cut the roll-ups into pieces and put them over top of the noodles and added sauce. It was great and while it tasted similar, it was a different pasta dish for the leftovers.
12 lasagna noodles (boiled per instructions on package)
1 eggplant
1 onion
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 t. red pepper
1 t. oregano
1 t. Italian seasoning
Salt and pepper
2 T. olive oil
1 c. ricotta cheese (I used part skim cheese)
2 c. mozzarella cheese (I used part skim)
24 oz. marinara sauce
1. Peel eggplant. Slice in half then cut into very thin strips (I was able to get about 35 strips). Sprinkle salt and pepper on the eggplant strips.
2. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a sauté pan. Lightly sauté the eggplant slices on both sides. Remove from pan and place on a plate. Set aside.
3. Heat the other 1 tablespoon oil in the same sauté pan. Put the onions in the pan with the red pepper, oregano, and Italian seasonings. Cook for 4-5 minutes. Add garlic and cook an additional minute. Remove from heat.
4. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Spray a baking dish with cooking spray.
5. Put 1 cup marinara sauce in the bottom of the baking dish. Take one strip of lasagna and place 1 slice of eggplant, 1 teaspoon ricotta cheese, another slice of eggplant, 1 teaspoon of the onion mixture, 1 teaspoon mozzarella cheese, and top with 1 more slice of eggplant. Start rolling from the end that has the eggplant and go until you have a roll-up. Place the roll-up seam side down in the baking dish. Continue with remaining lasagna noodles.
6. Cover the roll-ups with the remaining sauce and top with remaining mozzarella cheese.
7. Bake for 25 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and melted.
I like that they are individual sized lasagna!
This looks absolutely delicious!
these look rather EZ I’ve got two boxes of lasagna noodles I’ll have to give it a try.
Just this morning I was noticing the eggplant slices in my freezer and thinking I should find a recipe to make with it this week. I will make this I think.
It’s really good and packed with flavor. Perfect way to use up eggplant!
Yum. That would be a great dinner idea for next week.