Spinach Lasagna Roll-Ups with a Slow Simmered Meat Sauce
Course Main
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 20 minutesminutes
Cook Time 4 hourshours
Total Time 4 hourshours20 minutesminutes
Servings 8
Author Pam / For the Love of Cooking
Equipment
Dutch oven
9x13-inch baking dish
Ingredients
Slow Simmered Meat Sauce:
2tspolive oil
1lblean ground beef
1sweet yellow oniondiced
3-4carrotsfinely diced
½cupof roasted bell pepperdiced
5clovesof garlicminced
1tspdried basil
½tspdried oregano
Pinchof crushed red pepper flakesmore if desired
Sea salt and freshly cracked pepperto taste
1cupof beef stock
1 28ozcan of crushed tomatoes
1 28ozcan of chopped tomatoes
1 15ozcan of tomato sauce
3tbspof tomato paste
1-2tbspof sugar
1tbspfresh basilchopped
1tbspfresh parsleychopped
Spinach Lasagna Roll Ups:
8lasagna noodlescooked per instructions
1 15ozcontainer of ricotta cheese
2cupsof baby spinachchopped finely
1 ½cupsof mozzarella cheese(divided)
¼cupof Parmesan cheese(divided)
1egg
⅛tspfresh nutmeggrated
2tbspfresh basilchopped finely
1tbspfresh parsleychopped finely
1-2clovesof garlicminced
Sea salt and freshly cracked pepperto taste
Instructions
Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the ground beef and the onion. Cook, stirring often to crumble the beef for 4-5 minutes. Add the carrots, roasted bell pepper, garlic, dried basil, dried oregano, crushed red pepper flakes, sea salt, and freshly cracked pepper, to taste. Add the beef stock, tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, chopped tomatoes, and tomato sauce to the beef mixture as well as the sugar. Stir until well combined. Cover with a lid and reduce heat then simmer for 3-4 hours. Before serving add the fresh basil and parsley then stir to combine.
After the sauce has simmered, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Cook lasagna noodles per instructions then lay them out on top of some parchment paper.
Combine the ricotta, spinach, 1/2 cup of mozzarella, 2 tbsp of Parmesan, egg, nutmeg, basil, parsley, garlic, sea salt, and freshly cracked pepper, to taste, together in a large bowl; mix until well combined. Spoon a thin layer of the ricotta mixture down the entire length of the lasagna noodle. Repeat with the remaining noodles. Starting from one end, roll up. Repeat.
Coat a baking dish with cooking spray then spoon a layer of the slow-simmered meat sauce in the bottom of the baking dish. Place the lasagna rolls, seam side down, into the baking dish. Cover each roll with sauce then add the remaining cup of mozzarella cheese and 2 tbsp Parmesan cheese equally to the top of each roll.
Cover with tin foil, and cook for 15 minutes. Remove the tin foil and continue baking for 5-10 minutes or until the cheese is melted.