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Veggie Lasagna Rolls with Homemade Ricotta and Burst Cherry Tomato Sauce

While not exactly effortless in its preparation, these lasagna rolls are worth every bit of frustration when one lasagna noodle sticks to the other, and every morsel of patience required to individually blanch the veggies. They’re creamy, light and as I suspected, universally loved.

Ingredients

    • 12 lasagna sheets
    • 2 ½ cups homemade or store-bought ricotta cheese
    • 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoons olive oil
    • 2 leeks, trimmed and sliced thin
    • ½ teaspoon salt
    • ½ teaspoon garlic powder
    • ½ teaspoon onion powder
    • 1 cup asparagus, chopped
    • 1 cup baby peas
    • 1 ear of corn
    • 4 artichoke hearts, chopped
    • 2 pounds cherry tomatoes
    • 5 garlic cloves
    • ¼ cup dry white wine
    • ½ teaspoon salt

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Fill a stock pot large enough to hold lasagna noodles with water. Bring to a boil. Season liberally with salt. It should taste like the sea. Add pasta sheets one at a time. Cook in two batches if necessary. Cook until aldente. Once cooked drizzle with olive oil and lay on a baking sheet to cool. Leave cooking liquid on a simmer.
  3. Get a large bowl and fill with ice water. Put colander in ice water.
  4. When you remove pasta add asparagus. Cook 2-3 minutes until bright green and still crisp. Transfer to ice water bath.
  5. Add peas to water, cook 1 minute. Transfer to ice water. Remove asparagus and peas from water and drain.
  6. Add corn to simmering water. Cook until corn is bright yellow and cooked, about 5-7 minutes. Remove from water and cut from cob.
  7. Combine asparagus, peas, corn and chopped artichoke hearts. Season with salt and pepper.
  8. In a small sauté pan, heat 1 teaspoon olive oil, add leaks and cook until soft, about 4-5 minutes.
  9. Add to ricotta along with salt, garlic powder and onion powder. Stir until combined.
  10. To assemble ricotta: Spread about ¼ cup of ricotta on lasagna sheet. Cover with veggies. Roll up.
  11. Place in a greased baking dish.
  12. For the sauce: In a sauce pan, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over a medium heat. Add garlic and tomatoes. Cook for 2-3 minutes. Add wine. Continue to cook until tomatoes start to burst. Once they do, use the back of a wooden spoon and smash all the tomatoes. Let simmer for 8-10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
  13. Pour sauce over lasagna rolls and pop into the oven. Bake for 25-30 minutes until hot.
  14. Serve with shaved parmesan cheese.