Lasagna Rolls - Two Ways!

Well, since becoming lactose intolerant about 5 years ago, I can honestly recall not having eaten anything like lasagna in a very long time.  I miss the gooey cheesiness lasagna offers and the rich red sauce smothered all over it.  Ok, can you tell that I miss it?  A little?

The other day, my good friend Frances Garner and I decided to make lasagna two ways; the classic way and the lactose free way (don't freak out! It worked!).  And we decided to prepare it a little differently, we rolled it.  We had a lot of fun assembling this pasta dish and we received positive reviews on both recipes.   Hope you give them an opportunity to wow you too!  Happy Cooking!

Classic Lasagna 
By: Frances Garner

Ingredients

• 6 lasagna noodles
• 1 pound extra-lean ground beef
• 1 (28 ounce) jar pasta sauce (we used a roasted Garlic Tomato Sauce)
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon black pepper
• 15 ounces of Ricotta Cheese
• 1 egg
• 1 8 oz package of shredded Parmesan cheese or Italian Cheese Mix

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C)
• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil.  Cook lasagna noodles in the boiling water, stirring occasionally until pasta is cooked through, about 8 minutes. Drain and pat noodles with dry paper towels.
• Brown ground beef in a large skillet over medium heat, breaking the meat into crumbles as it cooks, about 10 minutes.   
• Mix together the Ricotta cheese, the egg, 1/3 to 1/2 of the shredded Italian cheese mix, garlic powder, salt and black pepper until well blended.
• Spread just enough of the pasta sauce to cover the bottom of a 8x8 pan (or a 2-quart casserole dish)
• Lay a lasagna noodle out onto a lightly floured work surface and spread with 2 tablespoons of the cheese mixture. Sprinkle some of the cooked ground beef on top of the cheese mixture and then drizzle the pasta sauce over the meat and cheese.
• Roll noodle and place with seam side down atop cheese in casserole dish.  Repeat with remaining noodles.
• Sprinkle remaining pasta sauce and shredded Italian cheese over noodles rolls.
• Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes.

Ms. Garner Comments:

• It came out being rather tasty.  Mr. K said he liked it just the way it was and not to change it. But I like to tinker with a recipe to see if I can improve it to my tastes.  So next time I think I would like to make the following changes: 
• The Meat: a) add a cup of diced onion and a tablespoon (or 2) of minced garlic to the ground beef while it cooked, b) add a lb of ground Italian sausage to the cooked beef or maybe use half beef and half sausage to give it a deeper flavor from the spices in the sausage.
• The Ricotta Cheese Mixture: a) add a blend of Italian seasonings (dried, fresh or a mix of both) to the Ricotta cheese mixture and/or perhaps a pink of nutmeg for seasoning, b) possible a 10 ounce package frozen chopped spinach (thawed and drained) to the Ricotta cheese mixture to sneak in a veggie and up the Iron in the dish.

The Lactose Free Version
 By: Sarith Kossowsky

Ingredients

I used most of the ingredients and in the same quantities as Frances uses in her Classic Recipe.  I only substituted the dairy products for lactose free/friendly products. My cheese mixture consisted of the following ingredients:

• Trader Joe's Sliced Yogurt Cheese - this cheese has a mozzarella taste and a provolone texture. It doesn't produce that gooey cheesiness consistency that mozzarella produces when melted.  I use this cheese on hot and cold sandwiches and pizzas.  May not work for all lactose intolerant individuals because it is made from milk.  However, it works for me because of it's yogurt properties.
• Galaxy Nutritional Foods, Rice Shreds, Mozzarella Flavor - I purchase this cheese at Whole Foods and Wegmans.  It has a good taste and texture and will melt.  However, like the yogurt cheese, it doesn't produce the gooey cheesiness consistency.  I will often use this cheese for pizza and recipes that call for shredded cheese.

Directions 

The same directions Ms. Garner explained above also apply to this recipe.  Just substitute my lactose free cheese ingredients for her "cheese mixture."  Because my lactose free cheese options do not spread as easily as the classic cheese mixture, I just layered both alternative lactose free cheeses throughout the process.  

Mrs. K's Comments: 

• I really enjoyed the lactose free recipe.  As previously stated, it had been a long time since I had a hearty, cheesy tasting lasagna.  
• Both recipes froze really well.
• Highly recommend the lasagna roll.  This method provides a cleaner presentation and better portion control.   

 ***More pictures coming soon :)