Spinach Lasagna Roll-Ups

(with MASSIVE Healthy Tweaking) 

I've made this recipe from Giada De Laurentiis before successfully and also slayed "regular" lasagnas.  BUT I have always slaughtered the "regular" lasagnas when I have tried to put a healthy spin on them.  I wanted to give her recipe a dose of the tweaks as A) I really wanted to make a healthier lasagna and B) I'm on track with a page hit goal I set and you people come in droves when I screw up!

(By the way, did anyone notice how odd it is that when I said "slayed" it was an obvious positive and when I said "slaughtered" it was clearly a negative....food for thought.)

Ingredients:

Bechamel Sauce:

2 tablespoons unsalted butter "fake" butter (me=Smart Balance Light) plus smearing for dish

4 teaspoons flour

1 1/4 cups whole milk skim milk

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

pinch ground nutmeg

+ 2 pinches cinnamon*

Lasagna:

1 (15 oz) whole milk ricotta cheese fat-free ricotta cheese

1 (10 oz) package frozen, chopped spinach thawed and squeezed dry

1 cup (plus a little for sprinkling) romano cheese

3 oz thinly sliced prosciutto chopped

1 large egg beaten

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil

12 uncooked lasagna noodles multi-grain lasagna noodles

2 cups marinara (recipe here or bottled if short on time or just tired or lazy)

1 cup shredded mozzarella part-skim mozzarella 

Pre-heat oven to 450°

Bechamel-Melt the (non)butter in a medium sauce pan over Medium-low heat..  Add the flour and whisk for a couple of minutes. Add  the milk and increase the heat to Medium-high and continue to whisk until it becomes thick. Add in the nutmeg, salt, pepper and cinnamon*.  Set aside.

*My family has always added cinnamon to our ricotta in recipes.  I think it is regional to where our family came from in Italy as I know not all Italians do this.  Try it out or avoid it if you want.

The Rest-Boil a pot of water and add salt. Top the water with the olive oil.  Add your lasagna noodles and cook al dente as directed (time wise, based on brand).  As the noodles cook, mix the ricotta, spinach, romano, prosciutto, egg,salt and pepper in a medium bowl.

Lie your cooked noodles out on a workspace side-by-side and allow to cool a little for handling.  While cooling, spread your bechamel sauce evenly on the bottom of a (non)buttered 9x13 glass baking dish. Spoon the cheese/prosciutto mixture evenly down the length of each lasagna noodle.  Roll up each noodle like a sleeping bag and place seam-down in your baking dish on your bechamel.  The exposed roll-side should face the short side of the baking dish and each roll should not touch.

Cover (evenly) with the marinara, mozzarella and romano and cover with foil.  Put in oven for about 20 minutes and remove the foil.  Cook for another 15 minutes and remove.  Allow to cool and serve.

Notes:  I was very excited to try this tweaked version of a recipe I love.  I wasn't planning on cooking tonight but the opportunity arose and I thought I would go pretty big with the healthy changes. As mentioned, changing "regular" lasagna recipes has not gone well for me and I thought "What do I have to lose? I wasn't even supposed to see my kitchen tonight."

Tweaks:

I went multi-grain for my noodles tonight!!  This is a Heart Healthy way to go.  I have done whole wheat before and it was just a disaster and a waste of a meal, so this was a risk.

I used skim milk instead of whole which is also a big risk when one is trying to make a thickening agent like the bechamel.

I used part-skim mozzarella instead of plain mozzarella.

I dared to do fat-free ricotta instead of whole milk ricotta.

*I added my family touch of cinnamon to the dish.

Verdict: Success

This recipe is most definitely Neighbor worthy and one that I am VERY proud of.  I dare say this tasted EVERY BIT as good as the original recipe.

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