Butternut Squash and Spinach Lasagna Rolls

Portion control at its best!... and yes Mom set the table with only knives...

My mother is a huge lover of lasagna rolls; I think she would be 100% happy if I served the caprese roll-ups and spinach and lasagna rolls every week (or every day, for that matter).  I like them too, but I am always intrigued to find new things to roll up inside them.  This recipe appeared on Skinny Taste, which was even better: healthy lasagna rolls!  And with butternut squash sauce instead of marinara!  Hell yeah.

The first step is to make the butternut squash sauce.  I confess that I used a ginormous squash, so I had more of it than I was supposed to, leading to a bit thicker sauce than expected.  But it was so delicious, I didn't care: squash, shallots, garlic, parmesan.... honestly that could be its own side dish and I'd be happy.

Then the rolls are stuffed with, from what I can tell, the same filling as in the spinach and lasagna rolls.  Then they are rolled up and topped with the butternut sauce and Italian blend cheese, and baked.  I doubled it, and ended up getting about 25 rolls.  We ate these babies for days, since 25 is even too much for a full house here!  The good news is, even though we ate them for lunch and dinner for literally a week, everyone loved them.  They are sweet and savory, creamy, and low fat all at once.  They definitely don't taste healthy, either.  I think you should probably make these for dinner... maybe for Meatless Monday?

Recipe:

butternut squash and spinach lasagna rolls
from Skinny Taste
yield 9 rolls
6 WW points+
227 calories
5 g. fat

Ingredients:
for the butternut parmesan sauce:
1 lb. butternut squash, peeled and diced
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/4 cup shallots, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons fresh grated parmesan cheese
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

for the lasagna:
9 lasagna noodles, cooked
10 ounce package frozen chopped spinach, heated and squeezed well
15 ounce fat free ricotta cheese
1/2 cup fresh grated parmesan cheese
1 large egg
salt and fresh pepper
9 tablespoons (about 3 ounces) part skim shredded Italian blend cheese
1 tablespoon parsley, minced

Instructions:

1) Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.  Add butternut squash and cook until soft.  Remove squash with a slotted spoon, reserve about 1 cup of the water and set aside, then blend until smooth with an immersion blender, adding 1/4 cup of the reserved liquid to thin out.

2) Meanwhile, in a large deep non-stick skillet, add the oil, sauté the shallots and garlic over medium-low heat until soft and golden, about 4-5 minutes.  Add pureed butternut squash, season with salt and fresh cracked pepper, and add a little more of the reserved water to thin out to your liking.  Stir in 2 1/2 tablespoons of the parmesan cheese and set aside.

3) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Ladle about 1/2 cup butternut squash sauce on the bottom of a 9x12 baking dish.

4) Combine spinach, ricotta, parmesan, egg, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl.

5) Place a piece of wax paper on the counter and lay out lasagna noodles.  Make sure noodles are dry.  Take 1/3 cup of ricotta mixture and spread evenly over noodle.  Roll carefully and place seam side down onto the baking dish.  Repeat with remaining noodles.

6) Ladle about 1 cup of sauce over the noodles in the baking dish and top each one with 1 tablespoon Italian cheese blend.  Put foil over baking dish and bake for 40 minutes, or until cheese melts and everything is hot and bubble.  Top with parsley and serve.