Lasagna Rolls

This recipe is one of my favorite new discoveries. I grew up with traditional lasagna: layers of noodles, sauce, ricotta and cottage cheese mixture, mozzarella cheese, repeat. This time, the filling is much more substantial (contains spinach and prosciutto!) , and rolled into easy-to-serve individual noodles set atop a creamy sauce and covered with meaty spaghetti sauce and shredded cheese. It takes a little time to prepare, but let me tell you- it is WORTH it. This recipe is a modified version from Giada's Family Dinners.

Ingredients:

Creamy Sauce:
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
4 teaspoons all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups milk 
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
dash of nutmeg

Lasagna:
1 (15-ounce) container whole-milk ricotta cheese
1 (10-ounce) box frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry (or you can follow the package's microwave directions to thaw, but be careful; it will be hot!)
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
3 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto, chopped *(see note)
1 large egg, lightly beaten
3/4 teaspoon salt, plus more for boiling water
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
12 dried (regular variety, not oven-ready) lasagna noodles
butter for greasing
1 pound ground beef
1 jar (about two cups) spaghetti sauce (I use Ragú's garlic variety)
1 cup shredded Mozzarella or Monterey Jack cheese

To make the cream sauce:
1. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the flour and cook for 3 minutes, whisking constantly. Whisk in the milk. Increase the heat to medium-high. Whisk the sauce until it comes to a simmer and is thick and smooth, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat. Whisk in the salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Set aside.

For the lasagna:
1. In a medium bowl, stir together the ricotta, spinach, Parmesan cheese, prosciutto, egg, the 3/4 teaspoon salt, and the pepper until blended.
2. Cook the ground beef until done and add the jar of spaghetti sauce, keeping the heat on simmer, and stirring occasionally.
3. Bring a very large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Generously salt the boiling water and add the lasagna noodles. Cook, stirring occasionally, until tender but still firm to the bite (the noodles will cook more in the sauce in the oven). Drain the noodles and arrange on a cookie sheet in a single layer to prevent them from sticking.
4. Preheat the oven to 450ºF. Butter a 13x9x2 inch glass baking dish. Spread the cream sauce over the bottom of the prepared dish.
5. Spread about 3 heaping tablespoons of the ricotta mixture evenly on each noodle. Roll up and arrange the rolls, seam sides down and not touching one another, atop the cream sauce. Repeat with each noodle. Spoon the meat sauce over evenly over the rolls and then top with the shredded cheese. Cover tightly with foil and bake until the rolls are heated through and the sauce is bubbly, about 20 minutes. Remove the foil and bake until the cheese on top is golden, about 15 minutes longer. Let stand for about 10 minutes and serve.

Makes 6 main-course servings (two rolls per person).

* Note: Prosciutto can be found at Wal-Mart in the deli section, where the specialty cheeses and prepared gourmet pizzas are located. I am sure you can find superior quality at specialty-food stores, but this variety has worked for me!