Today we’re starting the week off with one of my favorite, simple cozy meals, Lasagna Roll Ups! I like to think of this as the lazy mans lasagna. Seriously. This recipe has a few different components to it, but is actually really easy to throw together, plus I’ve made ours ever so slightly healthier by mixing some cooked down kale into the ricotta filling (although you can easily sub spinach in, if you prefer) and I’m using lean ground turkey in our meat filling! I also use our favorite marinara sauce recipe in this dish, but feel free to use which ever marinara you prefer.
I’ve seen a lot of versions of this recipe where the lasagna roll ups are baked on their side and topped with a bunch of sauce and cheese and baked. I didn’t do any of that….instead I baked them spiral side-up and left them naked! I did this because I think the best part of a lasagna is the crispy edge and when you have the roll ups standing up and don’t sauce the crap out of them, you get crispy edges on almost every.single.one. YES! Plus you’ve already sauced the bottom of your baking dish and that’s plenty, you’ll see!
You can also finish each individual serving with a heap of freshly grated Parmesan. I also recommend cooking your lasagna sheets until they’re just barely after the al dente stage. This makes them pliable enough to roll up, but still stiff enough to have the perfect texture after baking.
If you’re a fan of lasagna roll ups, we have a low-carb zucchini version that’s super delicious too! Enjoy! xx, Jenny
Lasagna Roll Ups
Ingredients
ricotta filling
- 24 ounces part-skim ricotta
- 1 large egg
- 2 ounces shredded Parmesan cheese
- ½ bunch kale, blanched, drained (with as much liquid squeezed out) and chopped
ground turkey filling
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- ½ yellow onion, diced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 ½ pounds ground turkey
- 3 tablespoons minced oregano
- 1 ½ tablespoons minced basil
- 1 cup marinara sauce
- 12 dry lasagna sheets (with fluted edges), boiled
- 1 ½ cups marinara sauce
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375˚F.
- Place all the ricotta filling ingredients into a mixing bowl, season with salt and pepper and mix together until fully combined. Set aside.
- Pour oil into a large skillet and place over medium-high heat. Add onions and sauté for 2 to 3 minutes. Add garlic, turkey, oregano, and basil and continue to sauté for 3 to 4 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and continue to sauté for 1 minute. Stir in marinara sauce and mix until just combined. Remove from heat and allow mixture to cool slightly.
- To assemble: Pour 1 ½ cups marinara into the bottom of an 8”x8” baking dish and set aside. Pace a cooked lasagna sheet onto a clean surface and top with a thin layer of the ricotta filling. Top the ricotta filling with a thin layer of the meat filling and tightly roll the lasagna sheet up completely. Carefully place it into the prepared baking dish, spiral side-up. Repeat until all of the sheets and filling have been used and snuggly fit into the baking dish.
- Place baking dish in the oven for about 25 minutes. Remove from oven, allow the dish to cool slightly and serve.
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Yes! I second the crispy edges! Can you tell us wherevyou got your round bakeware, Jenny? It’s amazing!
Try it with butternut instead of kale, sometime. It is absolutely delicious.
I’ve always wanted to make these but they always looked too complicated. But you know what? I finally feel like I can overcome this hurdle! LET’S DO IT!
I love that you did them ‘naked’ I think the crispy edges are by far the best part of a lasagna too!
Wow this look amazing! Definitely need to make this for dinner ASAP!
These look delicious! I love the way they look in the pan too. Like a beautiful lasagna bouquet!
If you wanted to freeze this would you you cook the whole thing first or just get to the assemblage point?
Just assemble into the baking dish, cover and freeze! Then when you’re ready to bake, I would make sure to bake it an additional 15 minutes or so!
i just wanted to chime in that baking this from frozen took a lot longer than an extra 15 minutes. i believe it was closer to 30 extra minutes! so i’d definitely consider thawing this in the fridge overnight before baking from frozen. delicious dish, though! :)
Thanks for the tip! Although I’d recommend just baking the extra 30 minutes instead of thawing before baking so that you don’t end up with too much water
I love the rolled version!
could this work in a crockpot?
Hm, I’m not sure…they might fall apart in a crockpot, but I’m not 100% sure!
love this recipe, especially that the pasta is allowed to crisp outside of a pool of sauce! thank you for this wonderful idea!