Recipe: Lasagna Rollata Al Forno my way

Hey everyone! If you've not tried Lasagna Rollata Al Forno at Olive Garden, you should try it next time. It's my new favorite there... I love it so much that my husband and I were determined to have it more often and cheaper at home. I googled and found the recipe...made it according to the recipe one time, and then tweeked it to make it cheaper and easier...

Let me start by first saying that I am in no way a photographer

and these pictures were taken in my very dark kitchen. No windows.

 Here's what I use. A bag of shredded italian cheese, italian seasoning, parmesan cheese, a tub of cottage cheese, lasagna noodles, a jar of alfredo and a jar of marinara.

These are the brands I get--- after some trial and error

Preheat to 350 degrees... and evidently my oven front needed a good scrub. gross.

Boil the noodles. I make 10 just because that's what fits in my dish.

Mix the jar of marinara, jar of alfredo, a handful of italian cheese, two spoonfuls of cottage cheese and a generous shake or three of parmesan. (This recipe is not a science.) I put this in a saucepan on medium. You want all the cheeses to melt and mix with the sauces. Stir occasionally.

 The original recipe called for wine and I made it that way once, but we don't keep wine on hand so I started leaving it out and I like it better this way. 

In a bowl, mix the rest of the cottage cheese, the rest of the italian cheese, about 5 generous shakes of parmesan and about 10 shakes of Italian seasoning. The original recipe called for all different kinds of shredded cheeses (expensive!), ricotta cheese, and an egg, but I do it my way now. (I started leaving the egg out because I didn't have any one day. It only affects how the roll stays together and it's not a big deal to me.)

Boil your noodles until they're pliable. Then rinse in cold water until you can handle them.

Dry a noodle off and fill it with a helping of your cheese mixture.

I lay it out on a paper towel to absorb the water.

Roll it up and stand it in a dish.

Fill the dish with all your rolls. If I get to the end and find that I have quite a bit of filler left, I sometimes throw it on top as you can see in the middle of my dish, or I take some rolls out and add filler.

Pour the sauce on top--slowly-- and bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.

***You can also sprinkle Italian bread crumbs on top. I forgot to do this for some silly reason?!!?!***

Voila. Very easy Lasagna Rollata Al Forno.

The hard part is finding where the rolls are in the pan.

We serve with tongs or two spoons.

(Excuse the spoon in the photo. My husband couldn't wait while I took a pic.)

Let me know how you like the recipe. This is an cheap and easy go-to meal for us. The ingredients stay good for a while in the fridge so I always keep the cheeses on-hand... and it's meatless---- cheap!

The night I made this for the tutorial, my husband called to say he was heading home (about a 25 minute drive.) This was a night that he usually works later, so I wasn't prepared to make a dinner and was in a mad-dash to throw together something and get out for my run. I had the dish in the oven before he pulled in the driveway, and then went out for a 30 minute run while it baked-- once he got home. It was perfect timing.

If you know my husband, you know he's a big eater. He fills up about two times a day so if he likes this meatless dish, that's saying a lot! It really fills you up!

Until Next Time...

Krista