Pot luck ideas - part I

The holiday season is near and eating is definitely a big part of the holidays! I love hosting festive parties and also attend quite a few parties during the holidays, one thing that always gets me is what to bring to the next pot luck. Pot luck dishes need to be easy to make, can be made ahead and should feed a crowd. Lasagna definitely meets all those criteria, the only problem is that it can hard to serve up sometimes. So this year, I decided to change it up a bit and turn the classic lasagna into a roll –up. It still has all the classic flavours of the traditional lasagna, but it’s a smaller portion size and easier to serve up, perfect for any pot luck and also a made ahead weeknight dinner.

Lasagna Roll-Ups

1 box of Lasagna noodles (approx 14 – 15 sheets)

1 tub of ricotta
1 bunch of spinach (or 1 box of frozen spinach)
1 cup of mozzarella cheese, shredded
½ cup of parmesan cheese, shredded
¼ cup of milk

1.5 lbs of ground beef

1 tbsp oil

1 bottle of your favourite pasta sauce (I used crushed tomatoes and added my own seasoning, but past sauce is just as good)

1. Preheat oven to 375F
2. Cook the lasagna noodles as per packaged direction, drain and set aside
3. Heat oil in frying pan, brown ground beef and add pasta sauce. Simmer until boiled, turn off heat and set aside

4. Cook spinach in a pot of water, drain and chop to small pieces
5. In a mixing bowl, mix together the ricotta, chopped spinach, ½ cup of mozzarella cheese, ¼ cup of parmesan cheese and milk. Season with salt and pepper.

6. Spread half of the tomato sauce mixture to cover the bottom of the baking pan, reserve the other half for later use
7. Put 1 spoonsful of mixture at the end of the lasagna noodle, roll it up, and place it seam side down onto the sauced baking pan

8. Repeat until all mixture is used up
9. Cover the noodles with the rest of the meat sauce, and sprinkle with the rest of the mozzarellan and parmesan cheese.
10. Cover pan with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and broil the top until cheese is golden brown
11. Serve it up and eat it up!

I really hope to post a few more recipes before the holidays, but if I don't, have a great holidays everyone!!!