My dad recently started a new job, however it’s up in San Francisco and we live in Orange County. So these days it’s pretty much my mom and myself except for when he comes home on the weekends. I usually get home late during the week and I HATE having to think of something to whip up to eat, so I’m always racking my brain on what can be quick, hearty yet delicious for my mom and myself.  So one night I made these Lasagna Rollups. I LOVE lasagna but if you’ve ever made it before you know that it takes quite a bit of preparation and baking time before you get a chance to eat it. By using individual lasagna strips and ingredients that were already in my fridge, I cut down this time by over half and it was just as good as if it sat there baking for a half hour.

- 5 lasagna strips (Note: This recipe makes makes 4 ’cause that’s how many I made; It’s individual servings so if you want to make more for yourself or others just add an additional Lasagna strip — I have 5 because I cooked one extra in case one of my other ones tore)
- 2 cups tomato sauce
- 2 cups shredded cheese (I used Cheddar and Mozzarella)
- 1 cup ricotta cheese (we had full fat in our fridge but you can use skim or try it w/cottage cheese)
- 1/4 cup zucchini diced
- 1/4 cup broccoli chopped
- 1/2 cup mushrooms chopped
- 1/2 cup ground beef (optional – obv omit to make it veggie)
- 2 tbsp garlic minced
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- handful of fresh basil chopped
- salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Fill a pot with water and bring to a boil. Add 1 tbsp olive oil (this is so the lasagna won’t stick to each other in the pot — you can also spray a non-stick spray like PAM into the pot). Slowly add each strip to pot. In a separate pan heat on medium and add remaining olive oil and garlic. Allow the garlic to slightly cook for about a minute or so — you don’t want it to get brown or burnt. Add ground beef to pan and allow to cook until browned. While lasagna strips & beef are cooking in a separate bowl add ricotta, veggies, basil, salt and pepper. Fold all together until they are well combined. Once beef is done cooking add to ricotta and fold again.

Once lasagna strips are done cooking strain. Warm up sauce in the microwave. Spray a small casserole dish with non-stick spray. Lay down one lasagna strip. Take a scoop of the ricotta mixture and place at one end of the strip. leave enough room though at the end for when you. Roll it up and place the seam side down in the casserole dish. Repeat with remaining strips (including the extra cooked strip if you want). Ladle sauce across the top of each roll up and sprinkle generously with cheese. Place in oven for 10 minutes just to cook veggies and melt cheese.

Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes before serving. Individual lasagnas voila!