It’s good to plan ahead. I try it as much as I can. It’s nice. Well…Sometimes it’s not so nice. Sometimes the best laid plans go wrong despite your best intentions.
At times I plan to not cook or plan not to work too hard. What? A chick reserves the right to close her 4 star diner once in a while. I don’t exactly menu plan because I like the spontaneity of my meals; but I do say, “I’m not cooking Tuesday – Its sandwiches for everyone!”
Or
“I’m not hovering over a stove for 2 1/2 hours – Modern Family is on!”
That’s where easy meals come in.
I mentioned my mom collected a bunch of easy cooking recipe cards in Spanish, right? Yeah, I mentioned that somewhere around here.
Anyway, I plucked out one of those easy meal cards – Broccoli Lasagna Rollups, totally translated from the Spanish, “Enrollados de lasaña con broculi”. I was going through one of my laissez-faire (Finally worked that word in a post – yay me!) moments and thought I’d take a shortcut I read about in one of my Cooks Illustrated annuals.
The shortcut was intended for manicotti, but I thought I could use it for lasagna rollups. Cooks Illustrated used “no boil lasagna” sheets, added manicotti filling, rolled the sheets and voila – Manicotti without the fuss and frustration! It was genius – And since I trust Cooks Illustrated implicitly, I thought it would work for me too.
No, Not so much…
I planned a shortcut and it smacked it’s no boiled lasagna sheets in my face.
It wasn’t Cooks Illustrated’s fault – Not at all. It was mine. I was to place lasagna sheets in boiling water for about 5 minutes until pliable. I didn’t really do that. No…
You see, I’ve got kids with colds and my toddler was particularly boogie-li-cious. So… between wiping a runny nose and washing my hands, wiping her nose and washing my hands again; I may have left the lasagna sheets in water far longer. I filled, rolled, sprinkled cheese and popped everything in the oven.
I may have left them in the oven longer that what the recipe called for. I’m not really sure… I was kinda playing a game of tag and lost track of time.
I took my rollups out of the oven and notice them to be a bit flat. Ok, like seriously flat. Like someone ran them over with an asphalt roller flat. Yea, like that. They were delicious, but hard as I tried I couldn’t get a decent picture. I was kinda hoping for the picture on the card.
*sigh*…
Now I don’t have a good visual. A photo that will entice you into making this recipe. A photo that will make you trust these roll ups are indeed amazing.
Sorry, guys – This is all I got for ya. Don’t know where I went wrong (ok, perhaps it was the extended game of tag); but trust when I say the broccoli filling was delicious even before I added pasta, sauce and cheese. Even the kids enjoyed them, and I was totally bracing myself for rejection.
They were so good; a certain someone left me a handwritten note on a paper towel with the words,
“WOW!!! So yummy!!”
I’d show you proof, but I used the paper towel to wipe up a spill. Waste not, right?
Love,
Me
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Recipe: Broccoli Lasagna Roll Ups
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 10 oz package of frozen broccoli, thawed and chopped
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 15 oz carton of ricotta cheese
- 1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese
- ½ tsp of salt
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 10-12 no boil lasagna sheets or 10-12 lasagna sheets cooked just before al dente according to packaging directions
- 14 oz. homemade tomato sauce, or 1 14 oz. jar of store bought
- 1 ½ – 2 cups of mozzarella cheese
Instructions
- Preheat the oven 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Pour about ¾ of the tomato sauce in a 9×13 in baking dish and set aside.
If using regular lasagna sheets.
Cook until just before al dente according to packaging directions.
- Spread about 1 cup of tomato sauce onto a 9×13 in baking sheet and set aside. In a large skillet heat 1 tablespoon of oil over medium heat. Add onions and broccoli cook until the onions have softened, about 7 minutes. Remove from heat.
- Add the ricotta and parmesan cheeses, salt and egg to the broccoli and onions. Mix until well incorporated. Set aside.
- Place a lasagna sheet onto a clean work surface and spoon about 2- 2 ½ tablespoons of broccoli cheese filling on the lasagna noodle. Spread the filling onto three quarters of each lasagna noodle, leaving the top quarter exposed.
- Roll the noodle and place in the baking dish seam side down. Repeat with remaining noodles.
- Spread the remaining tomato sauce over the prepared rollup and sprinkle mozzarella cheese on top.
- Cover loosely with aluminum foil and bake for about 25-30 minutes until the cheese has melted.
Meal type: dinner
My rating: 5 stars: ★★★★★
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