Pasta Roll Ups

Serves: 8    Hands-on-time: 45 minutes    Total time: 1.5 hours

This yummy dinner is a fave at our house. I took this recipe from "The Best of Clean Eating Magazine" (the first book!). Clean Eating Magazine is a great kitchen resource. Filled with yummy, easy recipes - many of which are family friendly. There is also a second collection featuring the "best of" this magazine.

The original recipe called for cinnamon and nutmeg, but I have modified the spices to give it a more authentic Italian taste. In the past, I have also added a little extra clean marinara sauce to give it a little more "kick."

Enjoy!

Ingredients

1 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 lb extra-lean ground turkey (I use lean organic ground chicken)
1tsp ground oregano
1/4 tsp Italian seasoning
1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes in juice
1 tsp sea salt
8 sheets whole-wheat lasagna noodles
1 container fresh baby spinach (the recipe calls for frozen, but I find wilting fresh is better)
1 (15 oz) container low-fat ricotta cheese
1 egg
3/4 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese (separated: 1/4 cup, 1/2 cup)

Instructions

In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and cook until softened; about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook another minute. Turn heat to medium-high and add ground turkey, breaking it up with a spatula. Cook until meat shows no sign of pink. Stir in spices, then add tomatoes, their juice and salt. reduce heat to medium-low, cover and let simmer for 20 minutes, occasionally stirring.

While sauce is simmering wilt spinach. To do this, add 2-3 tbsp water to a large non-stick skillet. Add container of spinach, cover and heat on low. Watch and stir occasionally until spinach as wilted. Allow to cool and remove excess water by pressing on the spinach with a spatula.

Meanwhile, in a large pot bring water to boil and cook lasagna noodles as directed.

Filling: In a small bowl combine ricotta, egg, cooled spinach and 1/4 cup part-skim mozzarella.

Assembly: Place 1 cup sauce on bottom of 9 x 10 inch casserole dish. Lay a cooked lasagna noodle flat in front of you. Spread 1/8 of the ricotta mixture across the noodle and and roll up. Place rolled pasta, seam side down, into the casserole dish. Do this for remaining 7 sheets of pasta. Cover roll ups with remaining tomato meat sauce and top with remaining 1/2 cup part-skim mozzarella cheese.

Bake, covered with foil, for 20 minutes. Remove foil and broil for another 5 minutes or until roll-ups are browned and bubbly.

 Nutritional Information:
Serving Size: 1 pasta roll up 
Calories: 234,  Total Fat: 3g, Carb: 27g,  Fibre: 5g, Sugars: 7g, Protein: 28g, Sodium: 508 mg, Cholesterol: 76mg. *note sodium will be reduced if you use "no salt added" diced tomatoes.*