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Standardby carynfasko1 Comment

I love pasta, vegetables and cheese so I am sure to enjoy any recipe I can make that includes all three of them, so a vegetarian lasagna really gets me salivating. Unfortunately, because I am gluten free, I often cannot order pasta dishes at restaurants, but at least there are a lot of gluten free pasta brands available at the grocery store. I usually stick to whole grain brown rice pasta (whole grains provide fiber and other essential vitamins and minerals and are important for heart health) and my favorite brand is Jovial. It doesn’t get mushy or anything like some of the other rice pastas, and I even make a special trip to a Publix that is farther from my house every once in awhile so I can stock up on it (it is that good).

If you are gluten free just make sure you use a gluten free (and whole grain) lasagna noodle and gluten free tomato sauce. Vegetables, eggs and cheese are naturally gluten free, but always check your labels just in case! If you are not gluten free, I would recommend choosing any whole grain lasagna noodle.

Making a whole lasagna seems like a daunting task to me, especially when I am just cooking for myself and my husband. Instead of filling a giant pan with layers upon layers of lasagna, I decided to roll up the lasagna noodles with a cheese and spinach mixture, top with a spicy red pepper tomato sauce, mushrooms and shredded cheese. I really like this idea cause everything is already portioned into 8 rolls. I planned on only eating 1 roll but I managed to stuff a second one in… I couldn’t help myself…it was so good. (I’m pretty sure my husband had 3 though so I don’t feel that guilty)

 

Lasagna roll ups

Ingredients
8 Whole Grain Lasagna Noodles
1 cup Nonfat or Reduced Fat Ricotta Cheese
1 Egg
1 10 ounce Package Frozen Spinach, thawed, excess water squeezed out
1 1/2 cups of Fresh Sliced Mushrooms
1 2/3 cups Tomato Sauce
1/2 cup Shredded Reduced Fat Four Cheese Italian
1 tsp Dried Oregano
1 tsp Dried Basil
1/2 tsp Garlic Powder

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook lasagna noodles according to package directions. In an 8×8″ glass pan add 2/3 cup of tomato sauce and spread to cover bottom. Add ricotta, egg, spinach and 1/4 cup shredded cheese in a medium mixing bowl. Add garlic, basil and oregano. Mix well. Allow cooked noodles to cool slightly and lay out on a cutting board or baking sheet. Spoon 3 tablespoons of cheese/spinach mix on each noodle, spreading down the length of the noodle. Roll each noodle up and place seam side down in pan with tomato sauce. Sprinkle mushrooms over top after all 8 noodles are rolled up in the pan. Pour a cup of tomato sauce and a quarter cup shredded cheese evenly over the roll ups. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 min or until it is piping hot inside and mushrooms on top are soft.
 Vegetarian Lasagna Roll ups in Pan
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Whole Grain Vegetable Pasta
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Standardby carynfasko1 Comment

I love making vegetable pasta during the week because it’s simple, fairly quick and I can make lots of different variations depending on what veggies I have in the fridge and how I flavor it. I often use different types of vinegar and oil to cook the veggies with dried herbs and garlic but this week I noticed I had some leftover white wine from the weekend..so of course I had to try that out! It turned out really tasty so I thought I would share 🙂

 

Whole Grain Vegetable Pasta

Ingredients:

2 Cups Dry Whole Grain Pasta (I used Rotini)

2 Tablespoons Olive Oil

2 Garlic Cloves Chopped

1/4 Cup Chopped Purple Onion

1/4 Teaspoon of each: Black Pepper, Salt, Basil, Parsley, Oregano

1/2 Cup Chopped Red Bell Pepper

1/2 Cup Chopped Green Bell Pepper

1/2 Cup White Wine

4 oz Baby Portabella Mushrooms, sliced

 

Directions

Cook pasta according to package directions. Sauté garlic cloves and onion in olive oil over medium low heat in a medium saucepan. Add black pepper, salt, basil, parsley and oregano and continue cooking until onions appear translucent, about 3-4 minutes. Turn heat up to medium and add chopped red and green peppers and white wine. Stir and cook a few more minutes until peppers are almost cooked to desired doneness. Add sliced mushrooms and continue to stir and cook until mushrooms are warm and cooked through. Divide pasta into 4 servings and top with vegetable mixture. Top with reduced fat shredded cheese if desired.

 

Nutrition Info per Serving:

Calories: 290

Protein: 9 grams

Fat: 8 grams

Saturated Fat: 1 gram

Carbohydrates: 46 grams

Fiber: 6 grams

Sodium: 155 mg

*1/4 cup part skim low moisture mozzarella cheese adds an additional 85 calories, 7 grams of protein, 5.5 grams of fat, 3 grams of saturated fat, 2 grams of carbohydrates, and 190 mg of sodium.

USDA National Nutrient Database used for nutrition analysis.

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