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Spinach Lasagna Roll-Ups with a Slow-Simmered Meat Sauce
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Spinach Lasagna Roll-Ups with a Slow-Simmered Meat Sauce

Course Main
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 4 hours
Total Time 4 hours 20 minutes
Servings 8
Author Pam - For the Love of Cooking

Equipment

  • Large Dutch oven
  • 9x13-inch baking dish

Ingredients

Slow Simmered Meat Sauce:

  • 2 tsp olive oil
  • 1 lb ground beef
  • 1 yellow onion diced
  • 3-4 carrots finely diced
  • ½ cup roasted bell pepper diced
  • 5 cloves of garlic minced
  • 1 tsp dried basil
  • ½ tsp dried oregano
  • Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes more if desired
  • Sea salt and freshly cracked pepper to taste
  • 1 cup of beef stock
  • 1 (28-oz) can of crushed tomatoes
  • 1 (28-oz) can of chopped tomatoes
  • 1 (15-oz) can of tomato sauce
  • 3 tbsp of tomato paste
  • 1-2 tbsp of sugar to taste
  • 1 tbsp fresh basil chopped
  • 1 tbsp fresh parsley chopped

Spinach Lasagna Roll Ups:

  • 8 lasagna noodles cooked per instructions
  • 1 15 oz container of ricotta cheese
  • 2 cups of baby spinach chopped finely
  • 1½ cups of mozzarella cheese divided
  • ¼ cup of Parmesan cheese divided
  • 1 egg
  • ⅛ tsp fresh nutmeg grated
  • 2 tbsp fresh basil chopped finely
  • 1 tbsp fresh parsley chopped finely
  • 1-2 cloves of garlic minced
  • Sea salt and freshly cracked pepper to taste

Instructions

  • Make the meat sauce by heating the olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat.  Add the ground beef and onion; cook, stirring often to crumble the beef, for 4-5 minutes.
  • Add the carrots, roasted bell pepper, garlic, dried basil, dried oregano, crushed red pepper flakes, sea salt, and freshly cracked pepper to taste.
  • Add the beef stock, tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, chopped tomatoes, and tomato sauce to the beef mixture and sugar; stir well.  Cover with a lid, reduce heat, and simmer for 3-4 hours.
  • Before serving, add the fresh basil and parsley and stir to combine. Taste and re-season with sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste, if needed. Side Note: This recipe makes a large batch of meat sauce, so I put the remainder in a large zip-lock freezer bag and keep it in the freezer for a quick and easy weeknight meal.
  • After the sauce has simmered, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
  • Cook lasagna noodles to al dente in a large pot of well-salted boiling water according to the instructions, then lay them on parchment paper.
  • Prepare the filling by combining the ricotta, spinach, mozzarella, parmesan, egg, nutmeg, basil, parsley, garlic, sea salt, and freshly cracked pepper, to taste in a large bowl; mix until well combined.
  • Make the roll-ups by spooning a thin layer of the ricotta mixture down the entire length of the lasagna noodles. Repeat with the remaining noodles.
  • Start from one end and roll up.  Repeat.
  • Coat a baking dish with cooking spray, then spoon a layer of the slow-simmered meat sauce into the bottom.
  • Place the lasagna rolls, seam-side down, in the baking dish.
  • Cover each roll with sauce, then top each roll-up with mozzarella and parmesan cheese.
  • Bake the roll-ups by first covering the baking dish with foil, then baking for 15 minutes.
  • Remove the foil and bake for 5-10 minutes or until the cheese is gooey.
  • Serve immediately.  Enjoy.