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
by: Three Many Cooks
Serves: 8
Ingredients
- 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
- ¾ cup grated Parmesan
- 1 cup fontinella (or fontina) cheese
Instructions
- 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 ½ 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 ¼ 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.
This looks like the Olive Garden recipe Lasagna Rollata al Forno
Lasagna rolls stuffed with ricotta, mozzarella, asiago, parmesan and romano cheese. Topped with mozzarella and seasoned breadcrumbs, baked in five cheese marinara.
http://www.olivegarden.com/menu/dinner/Lasagna-Rollata-al-Forno/524044-1224/
I just tried this today. It was very easy to make and beautiful to look at! I’ll be serving it tonight with roasted shrimp for New Year’s Eve. Happy New Year Pam and family. I love your style.