Meaty Lasagna Roll-Ups

1. Get a large pot of water on the stove to boil, salting it until it tastes like the sea. Cook the lasagna noodles according to the package directions until tender but not too soft (it will cook more in the oven).

2. In the meantime, heat the canola and olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add all of the meat and brown it until it is all thoroughly cooked through. Add in the mushrooms and let them get soft. Salt the mixture to taste, splash in the Worcestershire and give it a good stir. Then take it off the heat and let it cool so that it won’t scramble the eggs in the filling.

3. While that is cooling, combine the first amount of ricotta, Parmesan, eggs, nutmeg and parsley in a large bowl. Add the cooked and cooled meat mixture into the bowl with it and stir it all together to make the meaty, savory filling. Taste for salt, and add more if needed.

4. Drain the lasagna noodles when done and lay each individual noodle out as soon as they are cool enough to handle so that they don’t stick together. In another bowl, combine the second amount of ricotta with the marinara. Now you are ready to make the roll ups!

5. Prepare a 9 x 13 lasagna pan by greasing the bottom with a little of the creamy marinara. On each laid out noodle, spread a 1/4 cup portion of the meat filling, and then carefully roll up the noodle. Lay it seam side down in the lasagna pan and repeat with the rest of the noodles. Now, a normal box of lasagna contains 20 noodles, and usually 1 or 2 end up breaking in the box or while cooking. The filling is enough to fill 18 meaty lasagna roll ups. Once all of the noodles are rolled up and in the greased pan, top it all evenly with the remainder of the creamy marinara. Then sprinkle generously with the shredded mozzarella.

6. Now, you can go ahead and bake this right away if you prepare it the day you need it. The absolute beauty of this dish and what makes it great for entertaining is to prepare it to this point the day before, and refrigerate until the next day. Then it just sits and gets all of the flavors melding overnight (isn’t pasta always better the next day). And you can just relax when company comes and throw it in the oven; no fuss, no muss and no kitchen mess! You will cook the meaty lasagna roll ups at 350 F for about 25 minutes, until it is all bubbly and heated through.

7. The roll ups make it so much easier to scoop out and serve—there is no cutting necessary! They are just perfect little individual packages. Two meaty lasagna roll ups are a very generous and filling serving although I admit I sometimes eat three in a sitting because they are just too good.