Spinach Lasagna Rolls

Who says pasta always has to involve a red sauce? I was in the pasta aisle at the grocery store the other day and overheard a couple talking a few feet away. Apparently they were debating on pasta sauces where one was adamant about pasta being served only with a red sauce while the other took the stance of pasta could be served with any sauce or no sauce at all. I think you can guess which side I was in support of. No, not all pastas need to be served with a red sauce. In fact, a really good pasta dish are these Spinach Lasagna Rolls which involves a cheesy alfredo sauce. A mixture of cream cheese, spinach, mozarella and parmesan cheeses are spread onto cooked lasagna noodles, rolled and baked under a blanket of alfredo sauce. If that's not comforting, I'm not sure what is!...

This is a pretty versatile recipe. Aside from spinach, you can add other ingredients like sauteed mushrooms, chopped artichokes, sun dried tomatoes, etc. It serves as a great base recipe to start so use your imagination and whatever you have on hand! The trickiest part of the recipe is handling the noodles. I used gluten free lasagna noodles but you can use the regular kind if gluten free isn't your thing. There's a couple ways to go about it - buy the standard dry lasagna, boil, drain and cool... or buy the no boil dry lasagna, soak in hot water to make pliable, drain and cool. Either way is fine so just go with whatever you prefer. Once the noodles are pliable to roll, simply fill and roll! This is also great to make in advance as well...

Spinach Lasagna Rolls
recipe adapted from AllRecipes

1 brick (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
2 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, well drained
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
12 lasagna noodles, cooked, drained (gluten free)
2 cups alfredo sauce (homemade or store bought)


Heat oven to 375 degrees F.
 
Mix cream cheese, spinach, 1 cup mozzarella and Parmesan until well blended; spread onto noodles. Roll up tightly.

Place seam-sides down, in 9-inch sq. baking dish; top with sauce and remaining cheeses.

Bake 30 min. or until heated through.