Give This Safe And Sane Lasagna A Try

For millions of Americans, lasagna is heartwarming comfort food. Unfortunately, the way traditional lasagna usually is made - layered with meats or sausages, cheeses and sauce - it’s also tremendously high in fat.

This easy-to-make version of Rolled Spinach Lasagna cuts the fat and calories found in old-fashioned layered lasagnas, but keeps the comfort.

This low-fat, rolled version is made with a spinach and ricotta cheese filling that is liberally spiked with herbs and garlic. The filling is rolled up, pinwheel-fashion, inside cooked lasagna noodles. The rolls are topped with a meatless spaghetti sauce and baked about 20 minutes until they are fragrant and bubbling.

With a garden salad and a slice of bread, Rolled Spinach Lasagna makes a fast, filling and nutritious meal on a cold winter day, or it can fill a spot on a holiday buffet. Like traditional lasagna, the rolled version also tastes better the second or third day after it is made.

Rolled Spinach Lasagna can be assembled in about half the time it takes to make a traditional lasagna. The filling requires no precooking and you can use any good-quality, store-bought pasta sauce as the topping. However, be sure you buy only brands that contain 1 gram or less of fat per serving.

Rolled Spinach Lasagna

1 (8-ounce) box dry lasagna noodles containing 12 individual noodles

Nonstick cooking spray

2 (10-ounce) boxes frozen chopped spinach, thawed

3 green onions, finely chopped

1 (15-ounce) container low-fat, low-sodium ricotta cheese

3 cloves garlic, crushed through a press, or 1 teaspoon garlic powder

4 tablespoons fat-free grated Parmesan cheese topping

2 teaspoons dried basil leaves

1 teaspoon dried dill

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

3 cups low-fat, low-sodium pasta sauce made without meat

3 tablespoons shredded mozzarella cheese

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly coat a 9- by 13-inch baking dish or two 9-inch round pans with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.

Bring a large kettle of lightly salted water to a boil. Place the noodles carefully in the water one at a time, to ensure they don’t stick together. Cook for the recommended time listed on the package instructions, stirring occasionally.

When the noodles are done, drain immediately and rinse under cold water. Lay the noodles flat on a cookie sheet and spray lightly with nonstick cooking spray to prevent them from drying out as you prepare the filling.

Squeeze the excess water out of the spinach as though you were squeezing a washcloth. The spinach should feel fairly dry. In the bowl of a food processor, combine the spinach, green onions, ricotta cheese, garlic or garlic powder, fat-free Parmesan cheese topping, basil, dill, salt and nutmeg. Puree until all ingredients are well mixed. (Alternately, you can mix the ingredients by hand in a large bowl.)

Spread about 1/4 to 1/3 cup of spinach filling over each noodle and roll up each lengthwise like a pinwheel. Place seam-side-down in prepared pans. Top with pasta sauce and mozzarella cheese. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until sauce is bubbling and cheese is melted.

Yield: 12 rolls.

Note: You can prepare the lasagna rolls up to three days in advance before you bake them. Cover them securely with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator. The lasagna can also be frozen unbaked for up to 3 months.

Nutrition information per roll with sauce: 164 calories, 10 grams protein, 26 grams carbohydrate, 2.5 grams fat (14 percent fat calories), 4 milligrams cholesterol, 524 milligrams sodium.

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