Veggie Wednesday: Festa Italiana!

Marie of Proud Italian Cook and Maryann of Finding La Dolce Vita are hosting a new food event called Festa Italiana and this is my entry, which serves two purposes this week. It's meatless, so it's a great dish for Veggie Wednesday, and it's one of my favorite Italian dishes, so it's perfect for Festa Italiana!





You may notice there is no garlic in this recipe - it's not really necessary with the garlic that is in the marinara and you really want to be able to detect the nutmeg in the Béchamel. Add it if you like, though, it certainly wouldn't hurt!



Lasagna Rolls on Sauce Béchamel

Sauce Béchamel (a.k.a. white sauce):

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup milk (use whole milk)
salt and pepper to taste
freshly ground nutmeg - a pinch or so

Melt butter in a heavy saucepan and add flour. Stir together and add milk (at room temp.), stirring over a medium flame until thickened. Pour into a greased 9x13 baking pan - I used a 10" round cake pan, anything that will hold them will do.

Rolls:

1- 15-oz container ricotta cheese
1 cup broccoli florets, cooked until crisp-tender and chopped fine
1 small carrot, peeled and grated - about 1/2 cup
1/2 large red pepper - diced fine - about 1/2 cup
1 cup grated Parmesan
1 large egg lightly beaten
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
8 cooked lasagna noodles
1 cup tomato, spaghetti or marinara sauce
1 cup shredded mozzarella

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Mix ricotta, egg and Parmesan well. Fold in vegetables. Lay out lasagna noodles and spoon filling onto each-spreading to the ends. Roll up and place in the sauced pan making sure the seam is facing down.

Top each roll with marinara and mozzarella. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until cheese is melted and sauce is bubbly. Stand for 10 minutes before serving. Serve with Béchamel sauce under each roll.


Filling spread on the noodle.

Set into the Béchamel sauce.

Topped with marinara and mozzarella.

Done!