This is actually one of the first recipes that Tory and I cooked together for Gravel & Dine almost a year ago now when the blog was just a concept. It took me a while to post it because it seemed like a winter meal. We’d both been seeing lasagna rolls on Pinterest and got the idea to give them a try ourselves but incorporate a lot of vegetables.
And while we were at it decided to make them 2 different ways – with regular lasagna noodles and also with zucchini noodles. Both were delicious. They were satisfying and comforting like lasagna – but because they have a ton of vegetables I like to tell myself a little healthier. The zucchini noodle rolls really are healthier! My favorite part wasn’t the vegetables but the roasted garlic ricotta cheese layer.
Here’s what you need:
Plus some sort of tomato sauce, like our tomato basil sauce.
I know I wrote that these are veggie lasagna rolls and there is ground turkey in the picture. We wanted to include a little protein in one of the versions and thought the turkey would be a good way to lighten up the traditional ground beef. If you want a pure meat-less roll-up just omit the ground turkey piece. I honestly didn’t miss the meat in the version with only veggies.
Start by browning up the ground turkey with a little salt and pepper. Set-it aside when it’s cooked.
You also want to cook the lasagna noodles as directed on the package. Drain, rinse and set-aside.
Now it’s time to make the roasted garlic and ricotta cheese filling. I had a head of roasted garlic that I had roasted a few days before. To roast garlic, cut off just enough of the top to expose the cloves. Set on a piece of tinfoil and drizzle on a little olive oil. Wrap up and bake for about 40 minutes at 400 degrees or until the garlic is soft when pierced with a knife. I recommend roasting several heads at a time to use in other things (or just spread on toasted bread!).
Squeeze the roasted garlic out of the skin and mash in a medium bowl. (Tory recommends that you wait for the garlic to cool before you do this…)
Add in 2 eggs.
Beat the eggs and add the ricotta.
Stir in some freshly chopped (or cut with Herb Scissors
Finish it off by mixing in some freshly grated parmesan cheese.
Let the cheese mixture hang out in the fridge until you’re ready to roll.
Make the vegetable mixture.
Start by chopping up the yellow squash, zucchini, and eggplant – no need to peel any of the veggies.
Heat about a tablespoon of oil in a 12 inch skillet over medium high heat. Add in the veggies and a pinch of salt.
You’re going to chop and add the rest of the veggies as you go. This gives the eggplant and squash some time to soften up.
First the onion.
Then the bell peppers.
Stir everything together and cook until the veggies are soft about 5-10 minutes.
When it’s just about ready, stir in some chopped spinach and cook until it wilts down.
While the veggies are cooking, use a mandoline to cut two zucchini into long thing, lasagna style strips. I used the #2 setting on my mandoline which is thick enough so you can’t see through them but thin enough to be very pliable. I bought Tory a pair of cut proof gloves
It’s time to roll! Start by spreading a little sauce in the bottom of a baking dish.
We started with the lasagna noodles. Spread generously with the ricotta filling.
Top with veggies.
Roll tightly and place seam side down in the baking pan.
Now lets do the same thing with the zucchini noodles. Slightly overlap two noodles and spread with the ricotta mixture.
Top with veggies and ground turkey – don’t ask me why we decided to add the turkey to only the veggie noodles but we did – and roll-up.
We were able to fit about 12 rolls in our baking dish.
Cover the lasagna rolls with sauce.
Cover with foil. Bake in a 400 degree oven for about 20 minutes. Remove from oven and top with mozzarella and parmesan cheese.
Return to the oven and bake another 5-10 minutes until the cheese is melted.
If you happen to have leftover mixture, go ahead and make some meals for later. We used an aluminum bread pan and were able to make 4 more rolls. Throw these in your freezer and you have a ready to go meal for 2, or for 1 with leftovers. Thaw overnight in the fridge and bake as directed. I love having homemade meals in my freezer that I can pull out to make on a night when I’m feeling lazy.
- 1 lb ground turkey
- 1 head roasted garlic
- 1 16 oz package ricotta cheese
- 2 eggs
- 2 T chopped fresh parsley
- 1 c parmesan cheese grated, divided
- Lasagna noodles
- 3 zucchini -1 chopped, 2 sliced into long strips or noodles.
- 1 yellow squash, chopped
- 1 eggplant, chopped
- 2 bell peppers, any color, chopped
- ½ large onion, chopped
- 2 cups spinach roughly chopped
- 3 cups tomato-basil (or other marinara sauce)
- 1 c mozzarella cheese
- Salt
- olive oil
- Start by browning the ground turkey with salt and pepper and set-aside.
- Make the cheese filling. Mash the roasted garlic with a fork. Beat in 2 eggs. Stir the ricotta, parsley, and ¼ c parmesan cheese. Let sit in the fridge until ready to use.
- Boil lasagna noodles as directed on the package. Drain, rinse, and set-aside.
- Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a 12 inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add in the chopped zucchini, yellow squash, eggplant, onion, and bell pepper. Feel free to chop and add veggies to the pan as you finish chopping. Continue cooking until veggies are softened about 5-10 minutes. Add in the spinach and continue cooking until wilted about 1-2 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. My oven comes to temp in about the time it takes to roll these up.
- Spread a little sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish.
- To make the rolls start with either a lasagna noodle or two zucchini strips slightly overlapped. Spread with the ricotta filling, veggies, and turkey. Roll-up and place seam side down in the baking dish. Continue until you fill up the dish with rolls.
- Spoon the sauce over the top. Cover with foil. Bake for about 20 minutes.
- Remove foil and top with mozzarella cheese and remaining parmesan. Bake for an additional 5-10 minutes until the cheese melts.
- If you have any additional ingredients, make a batch to freeze and eat later. I like to use aluminum bread pans because I can just toss them when I’m done. Thaw overnight in the fridge and bake as directed.
- Enjoy!
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