Lasagna Roll Ups

This is another recipe from Pinterest.  The original blog is HERE.  I changed several things around to make it work for me though.  The original recipe (I believe) was more complicated than it needed to be.  I am all for short cuts when available since I cannot use convenience foods.  And again, in this recipe I used garlic and onion powders instead of the real thing.  I use the real thing sometimes but I save a lot of time when I use powders and I often don't have enough fresh on hand.  I also hate cutting fresh onions.  I rarely buy onions unless J will be there to cut it up for me.  I do use fresh garlic regularly since it is easier to chop up.

The lasagna roll ups are easy and versatile.  You could easily add chopped spinach to the cheese or omit the beef and make it a veggie lasagna.  And the rolls make it easy to portion and store leftovers.  My little picky family liked this meal.

Ingredients:
3/4 lb. lean ground beef (you could also use ground turkey here but I have yet to find a corn-free ground turkey)
2 small onions or powder equivalent
3½ cups crushed tomatoes (No cans for corn-free)
4 cloves garlic or powder equivalent
1 Tbsp. dried basil
1 tsp. dried oregano
salt and pepper, to taste
olive oil if you use fresh garlic/onions
1 cup water

1(15 oz.) container ricotta cheese
grated parmesan and/or Romano (I mix the two or buy the container that already contains both)
mozzarella cheese, shredded

NOTE:  The cheeses are not corn-free.  At least not that I have found yet.  Cheese cultures can be made from corn ingredients.  I am working on a new recipe here as well.

Directions:
Boil lasagna noodles in salted water until desired texture.  (Most recipes say to cook pasta to al dente but I like it more tender than that.)  While noodles boil, cook onion and garlic in olive oil. (Skip this step if using powder.)  Brown ground beef with 1 cup water.  Water helps break the beef down to a finely ground texture.  You could also grind the beef further in a food processor or blender.  Add powder now if that is what you use.  Stir basil and oregano into beef mix.  It should start smelling AMAZING now.  This is when I knew this was going to be a good meal.  Stir in crushed tomatoes and simmer.  Add salt and pepper now to taste.  (Always taste your sauce!) I added more onion and garlic here in mine so feel free to add to your preferred flavor.  Turn heat off of sauce.  Strain noodles and wait until cool enough to touch.  Lay noodles flat on some wax paper.  Your noodles may dry out a bit in the time it takes to get the rolls prepared.  Don't worry, they soften back up in the moisture of the sauce.  Preheat oven to 375°F.  Spread a heaping spoonful of ricotta onto each noodle.  Sprinkle parmesan and/or Romano on top of ricotta.  Spread sauce over cheese.  Use olive oil to grease a 9x13 baking pan. Spread a VERY thin layer of sauce across the bottom of the pan.  Roll up noodles.  I found it easier to roll from the top toward me.  Put rolls in baking pan.  Spread a good layer of sauce over the top so that the noodles won't dry out.  Bake for 15 minutes.  Take the pan out of the oven and sprinkle parmesan and/or Romano over the top.  Spread mozzarella over that.  Bake for 10-15 more minutes until cheese is melted and starting to brown.

I had pictures of this but I think my toddler erased them off of my phone.  She has figured out how to work the phone by herself and if I am not watching very close, she will delete pictures.  I will add pictures next time I make it.

UPDATE:  I found some of the pictures!  They were deleted from one place but I found them in another.  Good thing I back most of my stuff up!