When serving a crowd, lasagna often springs to mind, but I often I dismiss it because I want to wow my guests and slab of lasagna isn’t all that attractive. By halving no-bake lasagna noodles lengthwise and rolling a little filling in each strip, this dish morphs from functional to fun. Serving’s easier too!

Pam’s Tips

• Soaking the no-bake variety of lasagna noodles in salted hot water eliminates the messy, time-consuming step of boiling traditional noodles.
• The no-boil noodles start to stick together as they dry, but don’t worry, they pull apart easily.
• Heating the garlic with the oil means you never run the risk of burning it.
• Working with a quarter of the filling and lasagna noodles at time makes it easier to judge quantities.

Spinach-Ricotta Pinwheel Lasagna with Simple Tomato Sauce

Serves 8

8 ounces ripple-style oven-ready lasagna noodles
8 garlic cloves, minced, divided
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 cans (28 ounces each) crushed tomatoes
2 teaspoons dried basil leaves
1 bag (16 ounces) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
Salt and ground black pepper
2 cups part-skim ricotta
3/4 cup grated Parmesan
1 cup fontinella (or fontina) cheese

Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Add lasagna noodles to 2 quarts of piping hot salted tap water in the 13- by 9-inch baking dish for the lasagna.  Add noodles; soak until soft, about 10 minutes. Drain, stack, and halve lengthwise to create 24 strips.

Meanwhile, add 5 of the garlic cloves and 2 tablespoons of the oil to a Dutch oven; turn burner to medium-high. When garlic starts to sizzle, add tomatoes and enough water (1/2 cup or so) to make a sauce that is neither gloppy nor thin. Bring to a simmer, reduce heat to medium-low, and continue to simmer to blend flavors, about 10 minutes.

While sauce simmers, add basil and remaining 3 garlic cloves and 1 tablespoon of oil in a large skillet. Turn burner to medium-high. When garlic sizzles, add spinach; sauté until warmed through, seasoning with salt and pepper to taste. Stir in ricotta and 1/2 cup of the Parmesan cheese; adjust seasonings.

When ready to assemble, spread 2 cups of the tomato sauce in a 13- by 9-inch pan. Working 6 noodles at a time put a generous 2 tablespoons of spinach filling down each of the lasagna strips. Roll up to create a pinwheel shape; Place pinwheel-side down in the prepared pan. Repeat with remaining noodles and filling to make 4 rows of 6 noodles. Drizzle another 2 cups of sauce over dish, sprinkle with fontinella and remaining 1/4 cup of Parmesan. Cover with a vegetable cooking spray-coated sheet of aluminum foil.

Bake until bubbly, 30 to 35 minutes. Remove foil, and leaving pan on upper-middle rack, broil until golden, 3 to 5 minutes longer. Remove from oven; let rest 5 minutes. Serve with remaining warm tomato sauce served alongside.