Lasagna Roll-Ups

These were fun to make and delicious! The site I got this from has great step-by-step pictures (link below). These are way easier to serve too!

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 lb lean ground beef
1/4 cup finely chopped yellow onion
1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoe
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, chopped
2 1/4 c freshly grated mozzarella cheese, divided
3/4 c freshly, finely grated parmesan cheese, divided
1/3 c freshly, finely grated Romano cheese
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a large non-stick fry pan with olive oil spray. Heat over medium high heat, crumble ground beef, add chopped onions, and cook mixture stirring occasionally and breaking up meat, until browned. Drain any fat from beef. Pour beef mixture into a food processor and pulse for about 5 seconds until it is ground into fine pieces.  Pour beef mixture back into fry pan and add crushed tomatoes, minced garlic, basil, oregano 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 1 tbsp olive oil to al dente according to directions listed on package. Once noodles are cooked, drain and immediately line noodles in a single layer on waxed paper.  

Prepare cheese mixture (I did this while pasta cooked) 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 combined.

Stir meat sauce and spread 1/3 cup evenly into a 13x9 inch baking dish by tilting pan back and forth. 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 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 35-45 minutes in preheated oven. Serve warm garnished with additional chopped fresh parsley.

Original recipe found here.