Lasagna Roll-Ups

My husband had been asking for Manicotti.... for some reason I was having the HARDEST time finding the manicotti shells so I bought lasagna noodles instead even though I didn't feel like assembling a lasagna on a weeknight! So, I had a brilliant idea - brown the beef and boil the noodles as soon as I get home, drain and allow to cool while I go for a jog on a brisk fall early evening and then roll up the noodles with meaty and ooey-gooey filling and not burn my fingers!

To be honest, I had never heard of lasanga rolls, nor thought of the idea until about a year ago when a lot of women on the What's Cooking Board of the nest started making them. I had been wanting to try them but I guess I just never got around to it. I mean seriously - this is such a versitile meal - you can use whatever fillings you want and just assemble by rolling and then bake in a casserole dish. These ones were pretty good but next time I'll make more filling - there was just a little too much noodle in the noodle to filling ratio.

Here is what I did:
Lasagna Roll-Ups

Ingredients
8 lasagna noodles, boiled, drained and cooled a little

1 lb ground beef - cooked, drained and cooled a little

4 oz. ricotta cheese (I used skim)

6 oz. Italian Cheese blend (divided)

1 tablespoon Italian Season breadcrumbs

2 - 3 cups Marinara sauce

Directions

- Preheat oven to 375

- mix together the cooled beef, ricotta, 3 oz. Italian Cheese and breadcrumbs in a bowl

- Lay out cooled lasagna noodles and spread out 1/8th of meat mixture on each

- Going long-ways, roll up each filled noodle and place in a baking dish, seam side down

(I found the 8 fit well in an 8x5 dish)

- Once all are in the dish, top the roll-ups with marinara sauce

- top with remaining cheese

- Bake for about 30 minutes or until cheese is melted and golden and the sauce is bubbling