Vegetarian Lasagna Roll-ups

Hello Everyone!!
Happy Friday! I am super-excited as I am co-hosting Angie's Fiesta Friday this week! My other co-host is the very talented Andrea @ Cooking with a Wallflower. Check out her blog for all the delicious recipes! Also, come join the Fiesta Friday and showcase your talent if you have not partied there before! It is one of my absolutely favorite things to do on Fridays!

How many of you are familiar with Lasagna?? Almost all of you?? How many of you hate making it because of the amount of work it entails?? Well, I have to admit that I am one of them too.. Would it make you happy if I showed you something easier to make and serve that is absolutely delicious!

Now how many of you have heard of Lasagna Roll-Ups?? Not too many of you? Well, this is a very easy dish to make that uses the same ingredients as lasagna. It can be prepped ahead of time and kept in the refrigerator or freezer and popped into the oven slightly before your guests arrive!

This is a dish that can be served as a main dish or an appetizer. This is something that would be perfect for the Super Bowl party! These are little bites that are filling! You could make this using the regular pasta sheets or the oven-ready pasta sheets. I have made it healthier by making it vegetarian and using low fat ricotta cheese and low fat mozzarella. This has in no way compromised the taste. It is still hearty and delicious!!

This recipe has been modified from Ree Drummond's Recipe. You can check the original recipe here.

Servings: makes 12 roll-ups (about 6-8 servings)

Prep time: 20-30 minsCook time: 30-45 minsTotal time: 50- 75 mins

Ingredients:

Lasagna sheets : 1 packet ( I used oven ready sheets)
Water: to cook the lasagna sheets
Salt: 1 tsp
Olive oil: 1 tsp
Grated Mozzarella cheese: 2 cups

For the red sauce:

Pasta sauce: 1 jar  (  24 oz, Any good quality)
Olive oil: 1 tbsp
Diced Bell peppers, different colors: 2 cups .
Onion: 1 large, diced
Garlic: 3-4 cloves, chopped fine & crushed.
Italian herbs, dry: 1 tsp
Sriracha/ hot sauce: 1 tsp
Salt: to taste
Black pepper: 1/4 tsp

For the cheese stuffing:

Ricotta cheese ( low fat): 1 jar ( 32 oz)
Egg: 1 large ( optional)
Italian herbs, dried : 1 tsp
Salt: to taste
Black pepper: 1/2 tsp, freshly ground.

Method:

Boil water in a large pot. Add salt, olive oil and lasagna sheets. Boil for 10 mins or until aldente. Remove the pasta sheets and arrange them on a baking sheet in such a way that they do not stick to each other. Keep aside.

While the water for the pasta is boiling, prepare the red sauce ( tomato sauce mixture).
In a wok or saucepan, heat 1 tbsp olive oil. Add crushed, chopped garlic. Sauté until fragrant. Add the diced onion. Sauté until the onion starts to sweat and wilt.

Add the diced bell peppers. Sauté for 2 mins. Add the tomato sauce, hot sauce, Italian herbs, salt and sugar. Simmer and let it boil for 5 mins. Turn off the flame and keep aside.

While the tomato sauce is simmering and the pasta is cooking, prepare the cheese mixture. In a bowl, take the ricotta cheese, egg, herbs, salt, pepper and mix together. Mix well using a spoon.

Preheat the oven to 350 deg F or 180 deg Celsius.

Take a 13x9 dish. Spread a little tomato sauce mixture on the bottom of the dish.

Take a pasta sheet. Spread 2 tbsp of the cheese mixture on side of the pasta sheet as shown in the picture.

Now roll it into a tight roll as shown in the picture. Place the roll seam side down in the prepared pan.

Do the same with all the 12 pasta sheets.

Now pour the remaining tomato sauce mixture on top of the rolls and cover the rolls.

Sprinkle the grated mozzarella cheese on top evenly.

Place it on the middle rack of the oven. Bake at 350 deg F for 30 minutes or until the cheese has melted and the pan is bubbly.

Serve hot.

Enjoy!

Cooking made easy:

To prevent the cheese from getting brown, bake with the tray covered for the first 15 mins and uncovered for the last 15 mins.

Tip for healthy living:

Converting a non-vegetarian dish into a vegetarian dish automatically makes it healthier due to the lower fat and calorie content. Using low fat cheese instead of whole milk cheese further reduces the calorie content of the meal. These kinds of hacks makes it possible to enjoy a meal without feeling depraved!!

Food for thought:

Too clever is dumb. Ogden Nash

Please do share your thoughts. Your opinion matters!

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Vegetarian/Vegan, Low-Fat Dips & Chutneys.

SuperBowl50 is around the corner. It is a HUGE milestone to the football community. There will be several SuperBowl parties everywhere! There will be finger foods galore. With finger foods, comes the notorious dips & chutneys that are oh, so delicious!! Sometimes, the finger food itself may be healthy, but the dip is calorie-laden, artery-clogger! It takes a little more thinking and creativity to make the dips healthy and low-calorie.

I am therefore bringing to you a collective of dips & chutneys from my blog that are low-calorie,  low-fat, and are  vegan or vegetarian. Some of them are spicy but the spice level can be adjusted as per individual spice tolerance. I hope you can/will find something that works for you! Click on the individual title to view the recipe in its entirety.

Pico de gallo

Ambuli ( Green Mango) Chutney

Cilantro-Coconut Chutney/Dip

Coconut-Ginger Chutney/Dip

Cranberry Chutney

Loshne Chutney/Garlic Chutney

Ghosale Sheera Chutney ( Ridge Gourd Peel Chutney)

Peanut Chutney

Pomegranate peel and ridge-gourd peel chutney

If you have not yet found yet what you like, check this collective out!! I am sure you will find something that you will absolutely love!!

I am bringing these dips/chutneys to the parties at Throwback Thursday, Fiesta Friday and Saucy Saturday. Lily @ Little Sweet Baker and Julianna @ Foodie On Board are Angie's  co-hosts this week at Fiesta Friday.

Super Bowl Collective of Vegetarian Appetizers, Dips & Desserts

Cooking made easy:

Most chutneys, can be made ahead of time in big batches and frozen. When needed, thaw and use it. Some dips like anything with avocado or yogurt is best made a few hours prior!

Tip for healthy living:

Here are some tips to help control indulging at SuperBowl parties, especially if you are a diabetic. These were shared kindly by a very proactive and enterprising person, Ms. Geeta Kakade, who runs a diabetic support group on Facebook.

Special days like Superbowl Sunday generate excitement, anticipation and looking ahead. This is just an example but there are lots for special days in each of our lives surrounding them. When they revolve around food and get togethers here's what I do to protect myself as a diabetic....

1. I might decide to throw caution to the wind and eat whatever I want to at the get together (esp. if I've had a very 'good' week with diet/exercise and test results.)
'Whatever I want to/feel like' still involves moderation so it doesn't result in high sugars followed by a sleepless night followed by a day when I can't do much else except rest and get everything back to normal.
2. I do the above sometimes, but nowadays I'd rather err on the side of caution. I make sure there are things to eat that are good for me and first eat them.
As far as possible I skip the carbs.
3. When it comes to my favorite course...dessert...I taste all the other stuff practicing portion control. My idea of portion control is like this...a one mm thick slice of a pie, one inch long...I did this at Thanksgiving and tasted about nine desserts this way and still didn't exceed my 'portion size'...it worked so well and I had normal test results the next day, so I will continue doing this. It satisfies my dinosaur sweet tooth and mentally I don't feel like a food martyr even though people look at my plate in great surprise and then pity!
3. If anyone asks/comments I tell them about diabetes and the way high and low sugars impact my life and assure them I'm happy/have become used to, the choices I make and don't even want to eat large portions any more. Whether they believe me or not is their concern, not mine.

I hope you will protect yourself by planning ahead to face your next food challenge.

Food for thought:

If we did all things we are capable of, we would literally astound ourselves. Thomas A. Edison

Please do share your thoughts. Your opinion matters!