Spinach Lasagna Rolls, healthy version

I made this for dinner last week and it was wonderful! A friend recommended it and I am so glad she did. It is a healthy, low fat, meatless meal and was so easy to put together. I will make this regularly. All of my kids loved it. It comes from skinnytaste.com. They have 6 Weight Watchers points ( on the new point scale) for those of you point counters.

Spinach Lasagna Rolls

10 lasagna noodles, cooked
10 oz frozen chopped spinach, thawed and completely drained
15 oz fat free ricotta cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 egg
salt and fresh pepper
1 jar spaghetti sauce

9 tbsp part skim mozzarella cheese, shredded


Preheat oven to 350°. Combine spinach, ricotta, Parmesan, egg, salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Ladle about 1 cup sauce on the bottom of a 9 x 13 baking dish.

Place a piece of wax paper on the counter and lay out lasagna noodles. Make sure noodles are dry. Take 1/3 cup of ricotta mixture and spread evenly over noodle. Roll carefully and place seam side down onto the baking dish. Repeat with remaining noodles.

Ladle sauce over the noodles in the baking dish and top each one with 1 tbsp mozzarella cheese. Put foil over baking dish and bake for 40 minutes, or until cheese melts. Makes 9 rolls.

To serve, ladle a little sauce on the plate and top with lasagna roll.

Manicotti w/ Meat Sauce and some mishaps

I came across this while reading a Cook's Country magazine. I thought it looked so good and was looking for a new Italian meal for my menu. My family loved this and I am sure it will be great tomorrow as leftovers. I will never use manicotti noodles again when making manicotti (that sounded funny). Using softened no boil lasagne noodles softened and rolling them is 100 times easier than trying to stuff manicotti. They are fragile and it is a mess, at least when I have tried anyway.

Meat Sauce

1 onion, chopped

6 ounce package sliced pepperoni
1 pound lean ground beef
1 tablespoon tomato paste
5 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 (28 ounce) cans crushed tomatoes
Salt and pepper

Manicotti

3 cups ricotta cheese
4 cups shredded provolone and mozzarella mix (I found it shredded together in a package)

1 large egg , lightly beaten
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh basil
16 no-boil lasagna noodles

Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees.

Pulse onion and pepperoni in food processor until coarsely ground. Put in large saucepan with ground beef, mix together well over medium heat until no longer pink.

Transfer 1 cup beef mixture to paper towel-lined plate and set aside. Add tomato paste, garlic, and pepper flakes to pot with remaining meat mixture and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in tomatoes and simmer until sauce is slightly thickened, about 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Combine cheeses (mozzarella, ricotta and provolone), egg, salt, pepper, basil, and reserved meat mixture in large bowl. Place noodles in a 9 x 13 pan and pour boiling water over them to soak until pliable, about 5 minutes. Drain noodles on kitchen towel, discard water and dry pan for manicotti.

Spread half of meat sauce over bottom of baking dish. Place ¼ cup cheese filling on each noodle and roll up. Arrange with seam-side down over sauce in baking dish. Spread remaining sauce over manicotti. Cover with foil and bake about 40 minutes, until bubbly. Remove foil and sprinkle with remaining mozzarella and provolone. Bake until cheese is melted, about 5 minutes. Let cool 15 minutes. Serve.

Tonight was the second time I made this, but the first we actually ate it. I first tried yesterday but noticed some paper in the ground onion and pepperoni. I just thought it was a sticker from the meat or something then I realized it waas one of these:

I guess there was one in the pepperoni. I was too disturbed to even research to see if it would hurt and dumped the whole thing down the sink. Strike one.

Tonight when I was seasoning the sauce with pepper, the lid wasn't on the pepper. Oops. Strike two.

By the time I scooped out all the pepper, about 3 cups of the sauce was gone. So, our manicotti wasn't sauce-y enough but delicious nonetheless. Just thought I would share my mistakes of the day. Please learn from mine, these aren't my first kitchen mishaps and certainly won't be the last.

Marinara Sauce and Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs

This is the sauce I make if I am having company and want something tastier than jar sauce. I mostly use jar sauce and doctor it up a bit with tomatoes and some seasonings.

Marinara Sauce

2 Tablespoons olive oil

1 large onion, diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 cup sliced mushrooms

1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried basil

1/4 teaspoon fennel seed

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 8 ounce tomato sauce

1 6 ounce tomato paste

2 14 ounce cans diced tomatoes

saute onion in olive oil until translucent. Add garlic, mushrooms, parsley and spices. Stir to combine. Add tomatoes, tomato sauce and tomato paste. Fill empty tomato cans and tomato paste cans with water and add to sauce. Allow to simmer for up to an hour.

Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs

1 pound lean ground beef

1 pound ground pork (or you can use all beef)

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

2 Tablespoons dried or fresh parsley

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

salt and pepper

2 eggs

1 cup bread crumbs

8 ounce package mozzarella, cut into small cubes (about 1/4 inch in size)

Mix all ingredients and form into walnut sized balls, forming meat around cheese cube. Cook in olive oil in a large pan. Try to be gentle, the cheese tends to ooze out if you turn too much. Serve over pasta and marinara. Top with parmesan.

This makes about 2 1/2 dozen meatballs. I usually use half and freeze the rest or save them for leftovers. Or, just cut the recipe in half.

Cheese and Sausage Bowties

This is quite easy to make and my family loves it. I don't use Romano very often, it has a bit of a different taste so I didn't know if the kids would like it or not but they loved it. It was even better the second day.

Cheese and Sausage Bowties

1 large can diced tomatoes

1 lb. bow ties

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup all purpose flour

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

1 1/2 cups milk

1 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella

1 1/3 cup grated Romano

1/2 cup shredded Parmesan

1/2 cup minced fresh parsely
1 pound sausage
1 small onion, chopped

Cook pasta, while it boils drain the tomatoes and RESERVE THE JUICE. Next, cook sausage with onion, drain fat and set aside.

In a saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Stir in flour, salt and pepper until smooth. Gradually add milk and reserved tomato juice. Bring to a boil and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Remove from heat.

In a 9x13 pan combine the pasta, sauce, tomatoes and sausage. Stir in cheese and toss in parsely.

Cook uncovered at 375 for 30-35 minutes.

Skillet no meat Lasagna

This is absolutely delicious, so easy, has no meat and is pretty low fat! What more could you ask for? I will definitely be making this again and again. It is too easy and yummy not to. It is a Martha Stewart recipe that I found adapted at Remodelaholic.

Skillet no meat Lasagna

(approx. 6 servings, 8 Weight Watchers points per serving)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a skillet over med-high heat, add:

2 14.5 oz cans diced tomatoes

1 8 oz can tomato sauce

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 T olive oil

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2+ tsp of Basil, oregano and fennel seeds (each)

Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about 12 minutes. Stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, in another boil mix together:

1 18 oz small curd low fat cottage cheese

2/3 c Parmesan (the powder kind, not fresh grated

3 T dried parsley

2 beaten eggs

3/4 c Mozzarella

salt and pepper

No cook Lasagna Noodles

When red sauce is done, scrape 2/3 out into another bowl. Then layer with noodles and cottage cheese mixture, and repeat. Top with one cup Mozzarella.

Place back on the burner, medium high heat for five minutes covered. Remove the lid and place the whole skillet into preheated 400 degree oven (make sure your skillet is oven safe!) and bake for 15 more minutes.

Let stand a few minutes before serving!

Source: Remodelaholic

Sausage tomato penne

My whole family went to my sisters cabin a few weeks ago and this is what my sister in law suggested we make for the meal we were in charge of. Delicious!! It is so easy and perfect for summer since it is all done in the skillet. A new favorite at our house.

Sausage Tomato Pasta

1 package penne, cooked according to package
1 pound mild italian sausage
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 large can diced tomatoes with italian seasonings
1/2 onion, chopped
2 TBS olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced

1 cup shredded parmesan cheese
italian seasoning

Cook onion, sausage, and garlic with olive oil. Drain fat. Add heavy cream and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add can of tomatoes and italian seasoning to taste. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese, heat and toss with pasta.

Low Fat Alfredo Sauce

This is so good, I would never guess it was low in fat. My kids absolutely loved it and all asked for more and more.

Guiltless Alfredo

from Our Best Bites

2 C low-fat milk

1/3 C (3 oz) low fat cream cheese (I used fat free and it turned out fine)

2 T flour

1 t salt

1 T butter

3 garlic cloves

1 C grated Parmesan cheese

Mix milk, cream cheese, flour and salt in a blender until smooth. Melt butter in skillet and saute garlic for about 30 seconds. Add milk mixture to garlic and stir for a few minutes until thickened. Add parmesan cheese and stir. Cover with a lit, remove from heat and let sit for 10 minutes to thicken up more. If you refrigerate this it will get very thick, add milk and re-heat.

Spaghetti Pie

This is one of those meals that I like even better the second day. You can prepare it ahead of time and refrigerate. It is just good, homemade spaghetti. I love the taste of the green peppers added in it, it gives it a fresh, homemade taste. Then again, I love any recipe where green peppers are involved.

Spaghetti Pie

1 pound angel hair pasta
1/2 stick butter (4 TBS), melted
1 cup parmesan cheese
3 eggs
1 carton cottage cheese
1 pound ground beef
1 1/2 to 2 jars of your favorite spaghetti sauce
onion
green pepper
mushrooms
mozzarella cheese, grated

Cook meet with onion, green pepper, and mushrooms. Drain fat and add sauce to meat.

Cook pasta and drain. Place pasta in baking dish (9x13) and toss with melted butter, parmesan and eggs. Top with cottage cheese and then meat mixture.

Bake at 350 degrees for 1 house.

Top with mozzarella cheese the last 5 minutes.