I got home last night and had NO IDEA what I was going to make for dinner.
Isn’t that some sort of working mom’s nightmare? You walk in the door after a long day of saving the world (I don’t save the world, but hey, this is my dream), and your family follows you around the house like a pack of dogs, barking questions…
“What’s for dinner?”
“I don’t know.”
“What are we having for dinner?
“Still don’t know.”
“When will dinner be ready?”
“No idea.”
Scanning a cookbook of 30 minutes or less recipes, I found a recipe for Lasagna Rollups that I thought I could cobble together, in spite of the fact that the only ingredient in the recipe list that I actually had was the left over no-boil lasagna noodles.
Lasagna Roll Ups
Pre-heat oven to 475°.
- 8 no-boil lasagna noodles
Cover the noodles with hot tap water in a 2 quart dish and microwave for about 4-6 minutes, until the noodles are softened. Then drain the water and lay the noodles on a clean kitchen towel to dry.
- 3.5 c. shredded cheeses
I used a blend of mozzarella, asiago and smoked gouda because that is what I had.
- 15 oz. Greek yogurt
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 2 t. dried basil
- 1/4 t. salt
Combine the Greek yogurt (ricotta substitute :)), 2 c. shredded cheese, egg, basil and salt in a bowl.
- 28 oz. canned diced tomatoes
- 3 T. olive oil
- 2 t. minced garlic
Combine the tomatoes, oil and garlic in another bowl.
- 5 c. washed spinach
Spread half the tomato mixture in the bottom of a casserole dish.
Working with the noodles from the short side, put 1/4 c. of the cheese blend on each noodle and top with spinach.
The kids had said they wanted the greens to be used in less obvious ways.
What better way than to slip it into cheesy, tomato based, pasta goodness!
Roll the noodle from the short end and place it on the tomato mixture in the casserole dish, with the seam side down.
Complete with all noodles. Pour remaining tomato mixture over noodles, then microwave casserole until the rolls are heated through (about 6 minutes).
Remove casserole from microwave, top with remaining cheese, and place in oven on top middle shelf until cheese is toasty brown and melted. Remove from oven and let stand 5 minutes.
You could add meat to the rolled up noodles or among the noodles in the tomato sauce. This was a flexible and yummy quick dinner, although I suspect it took me longer than 30 minutes.
This was a great way to use my new spinach (more abut this week’s box tomorrow) and the greek yogurt. The kids didn’t give me pouty faces when I told them what was for dinner. 🙂 Who can be pouty when its lasagna, right?!
Awesome! You’ve so got this ‘fast meal from CSA ingredients’ thing down. I never think to use my microwave to cook things.
The idea to use the microwave came from the cook book. Thank you for the complement about using my CSA veggies on the fly. That made my day! 🙂
Looks good! I have found that some of the best dinners come from that desperate “I have no idea what I am making for dinner… Quick! What’s in the fridge/pantry!?” feeling. Although, I confess, when I have that feeling, I probably just as often order take out 😉
I thought about ordering out, but since I decided I don’t cook on Friday nights any more, I have to save that for the end of the week. Its all about choices. 🙂
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Yeah, your kids have no idea how lucky they are! My “dinner on the fly” is waffles and eggs or worse, soup from a can! Your roll ups look so delicious and gourmet! I have never used those no-bake lasagna noodles before. I am constantly inspired by your blog posts!