A Twist on a Classic

Greg made lasagna last night. He made it with spicy sausage instead of ground beef, which was so good. It reminded me of this little twist on lasagna that I made a while back. It's basically the same thing as regular lasagna, but, get this.... the noodles are standing upright.  Ooooo! Ahhh! Gravity-defying feats are happening here, people. Unlike most magic tricks, I will share the secret with you. Just cuz we're all friends here.

•  First, Preheat the oven to 375. 

• Cook 9-12 lasagna noodles and put to the side. (If you use less noodles, put more of the mixture into each one before you roll them up)
• If you like mushrooms, use about 12 ounces, chop them  and saute with a tablespoon of butter or oil for about 5 minutes. Then add 1 1/2 cups of tomato sauce and simmer for 2 minutes (this was a meatless version)
• * If you're using ground beef or sausage, just saute it while chopping to separate until the meat is done, but not overdone because it will cook for another hour in the oven. Then add 1 1/2 cups of tomato sauce and simmer for 2 minutes
• In a medium bowl combine a 15 oz container of ricotta, 10 oz package of frozen chopped spinach thawed and squeezed dry, 1 large beaten egg, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and a pinch of nutmeg.
• Spread the remaining tomato sauce on the bottom of a 9X13 inch baking dish
• Spread about 2 tablespoons of the ricotta mixture onto a lasagna noodle, top it with a tablespoon of the heated mushroom/meat and sauce mixture, then roll up the noodle and either stand it up or lay it down in the baking dish

• Top with 3/4 cup of part-skim mozzarella cheese. Also cover with any remaining mushroom/meat sauce. 

•  Cover loosely with foil and bake for 45 minutes. 
• Then uncover and bake for 15 more minutes.

Presto! Lasagna rollups! Unlike my meatball sub adventure, when I painstakingly made the sauce from scratch (what was I thinking?) I just used sauce from a jar. My favorite brand is Preggo.  I like the Heart Smart kind because it tastes the same as Traditional, but has less sodium. Do you have any twists on traditional fare? Please share!

Thanks for reading my twisted (not in a sociopath serial killer kind of way) thoughts about food.

Recipe comes from Elie Krieger's The Food You Crave