LASAGNA ROLL-UPS

Hi All! I hope this post finds you all doing fabulous on this fine Sunday afternoon. Today I have prepared a wonderful dish for you. Lasagna is one those meals that is really simple to prepare but there is so much that you do with it. You can go meaty or vegetarian. You can try different types of meats like chicken or turkey. You can either make a whole pan of it to serve lots of people or as in this case, you can make enough for as little 2 or 4 people. Regardless to which direction you go, you just can't wrong with lasagna.

My lasagna is a combination of two different recipes. I got the idea for the roll-ups from one recipe but used the ingredients from a different recipe because I had prepared it before in the past and I really liked it. (To tell you a truth, I didn't have enough lasagna noodles to make a whole pan of it and I didn't feel like going out to the grocery store so I decided to go with the roll-ups instead.)

**Special Notes....The recipe called for the browning of the meat, oregano and garlic together but I inadvertently overlooked this step and ended up having to sauté the oregano and garlic together separately from the meat. Honestly, I couldn't taste a difference so no harm, no foul. I also goofed up near the end of the preparation right before placing in the oven. Per the recipe (and anyone else out there who is a lasagna connoisseur), you're suppose to bake the lasagna first without the cheese then top with cheese and bake for additional 5 -10 min so that the cheese melts. I guess I got too excited and I mistakenly put the cheese on before baking. Once again, however, I can't see how this caused any problems because my lasagna was AWESOME!

**Final Thoughts...Hmm, tasty.

Ingredients:
3/4 - 1lb. of ground beef
3 cloves of minced garlic
1 1/2 tsp dried oregano leaves
1-26oz. jar of spaghetti sauce
4 lasagna noodles, cooked and drained

8oz of ricotta cheese

2 cups of mozzarella cheese (divided)

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 375 F˚

2. Brown meat with garlic and oregano in medium saucepan. Drain oil. Stir in spaghetti sauce; simmer 5 min. Remove from heat.

3. Spread 1/2 of sauce mixture in small baking dish. (My dish is a 9”x9” square dish.)

4. Take one lasagna noodle and spread with approx. 3 tbsp. of ricotta cheese, 1/4 cup of mozzarella cheese and meat sauce. Roll as tightly as possible and place in baking dish. Repeat with each additional noodle.

5. Pour any remaining sauce on top of roll-ups, cover with foil and bake for 30 min. Uncover top with remaining mozzarella cheese then bake uncovered for an additional 5 min. or until cheese is melted. Let stand 5 min. before serving.