Damnit Jim, I'm a Cooker Guy, Not a Caterer!

Tomorrow evening, my sister is hosting a dinner party on behalf of my niece. Since she will be cleaning and decorating the house (and can't cook her way out of a paper sack), she asked me to provide the food for the evening.

She said she wanted a meat lasagna, a side salad, and something sweet for dessert. After thinking about it, though, I don't think a greasy slab of meat lasagna is appropriate dinner party fare. Instead, I am going to make a ricotta/parmesan/spinach filled rolled lasagna instead. I think it will be more elegant and tastier.

Since I haven't made it in a while, I made it this evening as a dry run. And I took pictures to share! Yay!





Ingredients

Sauce:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 teaspoons all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups whole milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
Pinch ground nutmeg


Lasagna:
1 (15-ounce) container whole milk ricotta cheese
1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach thawed (obviously) and squeezed dry (obvs part 2)
1 cup grated Parmesan
1 large egg, beaten to blend
3/4 teaspoon salt, plus more for pasta water
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil
8 uncooked lasagna noodles
2 cups marinara sauce
1 cup shredded mozzarella


Directions

To make the sauce: Melt the butter in a heavy medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the flour and whisk for 3 minutes. Whisk in the milk. Increase the heat to medium-high. Whisk the sauce until it is thick and smooth. Whisk the salt, pepper, and nutmeg into the white sauce. Pour the bechamel into a 9x12 inch cake pan.

Mix the ricotta, spinach, Parmesan cheese, egg, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl to blend.

Add a couple of tablespoons of oil to a large pot of boiling and salted water. The noodles need to be cooked until just tender but still a bit firm since they will continue to be cooked in the oven. Drain them. Arrange the noodles in a single layer on a baking sheet to prevent them from sticking. Lay out each noodle on a work surface, then spread some of the ricotta mixture evenly over each noodle.

Starting at the narrow end, roll each noodle tightly. Lay the lasagna rolls seam side down, without touching, atop the bechamel sauce in the cake pan. Repeat with the remaining noodles and ricotta and spinach filling.

Spoon 1 cup of marinara sauce over the lasagna rolls. Sprinkle the mozzarella over the lasagna rolls.

Cover tightly with foil and bake at 450 degrees until heated through and the sauce bubbles, about 20 minutes. Uncover and bake until the cheese on top becomes golden, about 15 minutes longer. Let stand for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the remaining marinara sauce in a heavy small saucepan over medium heat until hot, and serve as a plate sauce.