Homemade – Portobello Lasagna Rollups

Jessica | March 31, 2009

Last Sunday while sitting in church I suddenly felt a strong urge to go vegetarian for a week. And since when God speaks, I listen, I’m trying out these Portobello Lasagna Rollups for dinner.

Portobello Lasagna Rollups

I’ve been eying this recipe for a while in my copy of Ellie Krieger’s The Food You Crave, a healthy eating cookbook with some really delicious (and figure-friendly) recipes. I make a pretty mean meaty lasagna, so I didn’t think these rollups would be too difficult for me. Happily, they weren’t! I went the store-bought marinara route as opposed to making the sauce in the recipe to save time. My only complaint was having to boil the lasagna noodles beforehand–usually I buy oven-ready noodles and am able to skip this step. Rollup assembly took all of 10 minutes before they were in the oven.

Unfortunately, my camera is currently being held hostage and it is pretty difficult to take a picture of yourself with a camera phone while eating, so we have no first bite photo here. But the rollups were good, if a little bland. Ms. Krieger is of course concerned about sodium, so she skimps on the salt in her recipes, of which I would have added more. I think I also would have sauteed some garlic in with the chopped portobellos to add some flavor, but that may have been the fault of my canned marinara. Next time, homemade sauce! Check out the recipe below.

Portobello Lasagna Rollups

Total Prep Time: 1 hr 30 min

Level: Intermediate

Serves: 6 to 8 servings

Ingredients

12 whole-wheat lasagna noodles (about 3/4 pound)
2 teaspoons olive oil
12 ounces portobello mushrooms, chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 cups Easy Tomato Sauce, recipe follows, or store bought marinara sauce
1 (15-ounce) container part-skim ricotta cheese
1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1 egg, lightly beaten
Freshly ground black pepper
Pinch ground nutmeg
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
3 ounces grated part-skim mozzarella cheese (about 2/3 cup)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Cook the noodles al dente according to the directions on the package. Drain them well and spread them out onto aluminum foil or waxed paper to prevent them from sticking.

Heat the oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned and all the liquid has evaporated, about 5 minutes. Season with 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Stir in 1 1/2 cups of the tomato sauce and simmer for 2 minutes. In a medium bowl combine the ricotta cheese, spinach, egg, the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, a few turns of pepper, and nutmeg.

Spread 1 cup of tomato sauce on the bottom of a 9 by 12-inch baking dish. Spread about 2 tablespoons of the ricotta mixture onto a lasagna noodle. Top with about 1 1/2 tablespoons of the mushroom mixture, roll the noodle and place it into the baking dish. Repeat with the remaining noodles. Spread the remaining 1 1/2 cups of sauce over the lasagna rolls. Top with grated cheeses, cover loosely with foil, and bake for 45 minutes. Uncover and bake for 15 minutes more.

Easy Tomato Sauce

1 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 (28-ounce) cans whole tomatoes, drained, tomatoes chopped
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 bay leaf
Salt and pepper

In a large pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes longer. Add the remaining ingredients and cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Yield: 6 servings