Knead to Cook

Food & fitness obsessed girl.

Lean ground beef & spinach lasagna roll ups.

by Filed Under: Pasta, Sauces, Vegetarian Leave a Comment

These lasagna rolls are so delicious!  You can make these ahead of time and just pop them in the oven for 30 minutes before you wish to serve dinner.  Doesn’t get any easier than that 🙂  And for a vegetarian option, just omit the beef and add cooked spinach to the ricotta mixture.

Ingredients for filling:

15 oz of low fat, part skim ricotta cheese
1 c of low fat mozzarella, shredded
1/4 c of grated parmesan
Salt and pepper to taste
1 egg, lightly beaten

Mix all of the ingredients together and set aside.

Beef & spinach mixture:

1 lb of 92% lean ground beef
2 handfuls of organic baby spinach
5 cloves of garlic, minced
Olive oil for the bottom of the pan

Directions:  Add the olive oil to the pan over a medium flame.  Then add the beef.  Cook until no longer pink.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Then add garlic and cook for about 1 minute.  Then add the spinach leaves and stir.  The leaves will wilt and the mixture will be complete.  Set aside to cool.

Pasta:

Boil the lasagna noodles according to the package directions until al dente.  Then lay out pieces of parchment or tin foil and lay each noodle, when cooked, out to cool.  Don’t overlap b/c they will stick together.

Sauce:

1/2 c olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
6 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 (28 oz) can of Cento or Furmano’s diced tomatoes
1 (28 oz) can of Cento or Furmano’s chopped tomatoes
1 can of tomato paste
2 bay leaves
2 pinches of red pepper flakes
2 tsp of Italian Seasoning
1 tsp of Oregano

In a Dutch oven, heat the oil over a medium flame.  Once hot, add the onions and stir for about 8 minutes.  Add garlic for 30 seconds.  Add salt and pepper, both cans of tomatoes, paste, bay leaves, and the remaining seasonings.  Turn the flame down as low as it goes, cover and simmer.  Stirring occasionally.

Assembly time!  Once everything is prepared you can begin…

Ladle some sauce onto the bottom of your roasting pan.  This will serve as a bed for the noodles.  Then take your long lasagna noodle and lay it out on a cutting board.  Spread your ricotta cheese filling very thinly along the entire noodle.  Then add about a tablespoon of the meat/spinach mixture to one side of the noodle (first 3 inches of it) on top of the ricotta mixture.  Begin to roll up the noodle and then place it seam side down in the sauce. Repeat until you’ve used up all of your ingredients.  Then top with the remaining sauce.  You can add fresh parsley to the top if you like.  You can either bake at this point or refrigerate.

In a 375 degree preheated oven, place your lasagna roll up tray.  Bake for 30-45 minutes or until hot.  Enjoy!

 

— Knead to Cook

Red sauce with garlicky turkey meatballs.

by Filed Under: Ground Turkey, Pasta, Sauces 4 Comments

I’m very much an Italian girl.  Grew up eating pasta, sauce & meatballs my entire life.  It is, without a doubt, one of my comfort foods.  Memories of my family gathering around the table, fighting for more meatballs (I remember one time someone “accidentally” getting stabbed with a fork, are part of my fondest memories.)  Being a Gambino – you can understand why.

But as I got older, and adopted healthier eating habits, I revamped the old school recipe to be a bit healthier.  The sauce has remained the same… the meatballs have undergone a huge change & white pasta has been replaced with whole wheat.  All in all, still very tasty and comforting.  I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do.

Sauce:

1/2 c olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
6 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 (28 oz) can of Furmano’s diced tomatoes
1 (28 oz) can of Furmano’s chopped tomatoes
1 can of tomato paste
2 bay leaves
2 pinches of red pepper flakes
2 tsp of Italian Seasoning
1 tsp of Oregano

In a Dutch oven, heat the oil over a medium flame.  Once hot, add the onions and stir for about 8 minutes.  Add garlic for 30 seconds.  Add salt and pepper, both cans of tomatoes, paste, bay leaves, and the remaining seasonings.  Turn the flame down as low as it goes, cover and simmer.  Stirring occasionally.

Meatballs:

1/2 c of Panko breadcrumbs
1/4 c of parsley, chopped
2 eggs, beaten
3/4 c of Parmesan Reggiano cheese, grated
6 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 lb of 85/15 ground turkey
1/4 c of olive oil

Combine all ingredients (except for the olive oil) in your mixing bowl.  Mix by hand until incorporated, avoid over mixing.  Roll into balls and place on a plate or cookie sheet.  Your going to work in batches browning them.  Once complete.  Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium flame.  Once the oil is hot, add several meatballs to the pan.  Allow for room to roll them around for growing.  Avoid overcrowding.  This process will take about 10-12 minutes  Once browned on the outside, gently place the meatballs into the sauce.  Be careful when adding and stirring the sauce as you can break up the meatballs.  Work in batches until all of the meatballs are browned and added to the sauce.

I let the sauce simmer on the stove for about 4 hours or more.  Keep a watchful eye and stir occasionally.  Serve over your favorite pasta and enjoy!

— Knead to Cook

Teriyaki Orange Sesame Sauce

by Filed Under: Sauces Leave a Comment

Perfect sauce for chicken (as shown in the photo), beef, tofu or even just vegetables.

Ingredients:

1/4 c low sodium soy sauce
1 c water
2 – 3 tsp of freshly grated ginger
3 tbl light brown sugar
2 tbl toasted sesame seeds
3 garlic cloves, minced
Zest from one orange
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
2 tbl cornstarch
1/4 cup cold water (to mix with cornstarch)

Directions:
Combine 1 cup water, soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic and ginger in a saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring constantly.
Dissolve cornstarch in 1/4 cup of cold water and add to sauce as a thickening agent. Stir constantly. Add sesame seeds, red pepper flakes and orange zest. Then you can add your protein to the sauce… chicken, shrimp or tofu etc.

— Knead to Cook