rolled lasagna: i can only imagine that's not the italian name but i'm not italian

2 Tbsp butter

1 Tbsp flour

1/2 c milk

3/4 c grated parmesan cheese (separated)

1 c frozen spinach

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

2 eggs (separated)

1/2 c ricotta cheese
all purpose flour for rolling the dough
salt for the boiling water
butter for the pie dish

marinara for topping/dipping*

2/3 pasta from the pasta recipe*

begin boiling a large pot of water to cook the pasta roll.  in a small saute pan, melt butter and brown flour.  add milk.  continue stirring until the milk simmers and the béchamel sauce becomes thick.  take the saute pan off of the burner and stir in 1/2 c parmesan cheese until it melts.  put frozen spinach on three paper towels on top of a plate.  place in the microwave for 1 minute.  let the spinach cool completely.  fold the paper towel over the spinach and wring out all excess liquid over the sink.  the cup of frozen spinach will now only be about half a cup.  stir the spinach, salt, pepper, 1 egg, and ricotta cheese into the béchamel sauce.

roll 2/3 of the pasta recipe on a floured surface.  roll into a large rectangle about 10 x 15.  spread the spinach and cheese mixture, leaving a 1 inch perimeter.  whisk the other egg.  use a brush to cover the edges with the egg.  slowly start rolling the rectangle like a jelly roll.  as you want this to fit this into the pot of water, roll it up so the width (10 inch side) becomes the length of the roll.  press the edges together on both side.  using a fork seal the roll.  carefully pick up the roll and place on a clean tea towel or cheese cloth.  wrap with twine.

when the pot of water comes to a boil, add salt to the boiling water.  with tongs place the wrapped pasta roll into the boiling water.  boil for 15 minutes.  put a clean dry tea towel on a cutting board.  when the pasta roll has finished boiling, use a wooden spoon and tongs to get the roll out of the boiling water.  place it on the clean dry tea towel.  let rest and cool for 10 minutes.  untie and slice into half inch rings.

turn on the broiler.  butter a glass pie dish.  lay the half inch rings into the pie dish slightly overlapping each other.  sprinkle with the remaining 1/4 c of parmesan cheese.  place under the broiler and turn often.  keep a close eye on the pasta rolls.

serve with marinara sauce.  seriously yum!  

1 cup of frozen spinach (after microwaved)

1/2 c spinach (after being wrung out)

the tasty filling

roll the pasta dough 10x15

fill and roll the pasta treat up

seal the roll with a fork

place in a tea towel

wrap with twine

slice into half inch disks

place in a buttered pie dish

Okay so I watched one of Giada's shows.  She made something like this.  I got really excited about trying it as I had been wanting to make some sort of take on lasagna.  Lasagna seemed too involved and just too much.  But I had already been thinking of making a white lasagna starting with a béchamel sauce and not just the traditional ricotta and egg filling.  Her filling was closer to a traditional lasagna filling so I came up with my own and yum! yes yum!

*the recipes are below