The original plan was to make some vegetarian Butternut Squash and Spinach Lasagna Rolls that I found on Skinny Taste. The problem was that when I went to the supermarket the only butternut squash they had weighed 5 FREAKIN' POUNDS! I had never seen such a squash! I used that as an excuse to buy sweet potato instead and add sausage, thus shooting the "vegetarian" tag out into space. If you love sweet potato this dish is for you! The creamy sauce is packed with sweet potato flavor and a nice salty hint from the parmesan cheese. The tiny spinach leaves add pops of vibrant green color in the velvety ricotta mixture. It totally falls under the category of comfort food, but it is pretty enough to make for guests. And now for the fun part!
First order of business is that beautiful sweet potato (to make it beautiful, you gotta scrub it clean, k?). After preheating your oven to 350 and setting a large pot of water to boil, you're gonna take a fork and pretend that that sweet potato is your ex! That's right, make it cry. (If you look closely you can see a tear falling in the third picture.) I kid. Forgive the jerk (or jerkette) and be happy single or with whoever you're currently sharing your life. :) After you pull yourself together again, stick the sweet potato in the microwave on HIGH for 10-12 minutes.
When the water comes to a boil, shake the salt container over it a few times, and cook your lasagna noodles according to the package directions. (If you salt the water before it starts boiling, it'll take longer to reach its boiling point.)
Meanwhile, undress the sausages (remove their casings) and brown them over medium heat in any ol' pan you can find with a little bit of olive oil. Break the sausage as you go along with a big spoon.
Meanwhile, undress the sausages (remove their casings) and brown them over medium heat in any ol' pan you can find with a little bit of olive oil. Break the sausage as you go along with a big spoon.
After browning the sausage, remove the pan from the heat and place the sausage in a medium sized bowl.
Drain the pasta, add some olive oil to it so it doesn't stick and set aside.
Then cook the onions and garlic in THE SAME PAN you used for the sausage in medium low heat. This is gonna be the base for your sauce.
Drain the pasta, add some olive oil to it so it doesn't stick and set aside.
Then cook the onions and garlic in THE SAME PAN you used for the sausage in medium low heat. This is gonna be the base for your sauce.
That nasty looking picture there is called FLAVOR! Never ever ever discard sausage, bacon, or fat from any meat in general unless it burned or something. Use it to corrupt some veggies instead. :P
While the onions and garlic delicately sizzle, peel the sweet potato, cut it up into chunks and add to the pan.
While the onions and garlic delicately sizzle, peel the sweet potato, cut it up into chunks and add to the pan.
Then add the milk, mashing the sweet potato as you go along until it reaches a consistency you are happy with. You can always add more later. Add the butter and parmesan cheese.
Season the sauce with salt and pepper to taste. Grab a spoon and keep tasting and seasoning until you love it!
Add the ricotta, spinach, parmesan and egg to the sausage bowl and season with salt and pepper. Mix everything!
Add the ricotta, spinach, parmesan and egg to the sausage bowl and season with salt and pepper. Mix everything!
After mixing, start slathering it on the noodles like so. Roll your noodles and place them seam side down in a 9 x 12 baking dish with some sauce smeared on the bottom.
Ladle the rest of the sauce on the lasagna rolls and sprinkle some mozzarella cheese on top of each. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 40 minutes.
If you make it, please let me know how it goes in the comments below! Also, if you have any questions feel free to ask. :)
Here's the full recipe:
Here's the full recipe:
Sausage and Spinach Lasagna Rolls with Parmesan Sweet Potato Sauce
Ingredients:
For the sauce:
Preparation Instructions:
For the sauce:
- 1 lb sweet potato
- 1/2 small onion, chopped
- 2-3 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 cups of whole milk
- 1 tbsp of butter
- 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese, shredded
- Salt & pepper, to taste
- 15 oz sweet italian sausage
- Olive oil
- 9 lasagna noodles (I used whole wheat.)
- Salt & pepper, to taste
- 15 oz ricotta
- 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese, shredded
- 1 cup fresh spinach leaves, chopped finely
- 1 egg
- 1 cup of mozzarella cheese (you can use as little or as much as you want to sprinkle the lasagna rolls)
Preparation Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Set a large pot of water to boil.
- Scrub the sweet potato clean and pierce it with a fork various times. Microwave on HIGH for 10-12 minutes.
- When water comes to a boil, add salt and cook noodles according to package directions.
- Meanwhile, remove the casings from the sausage and cook on medium heat, with a little olive oil, until browned, breaking the sausage as you go along. Remove pan from heat and set sausage aside in a medium sized bowl.
- Drain pasta once its finished cooking and add some olive oil to it to prevent sticking.
- Cook onion and garlic in the same pan you used for the sausage in medium low heat.
- Peel sweet potato, cut into chunks, and add to pan. Pour in milk in portions, mashing as you go along, until you get a consistency you like (I used the two full cups.) Add butter and parmesan cheese and season with salt and pepper to taste. (It is very important to taste the sauce as you season it so it doesn't end up bland or overly salty.) Stir until cheese is completely melted.
- Add the ricotta, spinach, parmesan and egg to the sausage and mix. Season with salt and pepper.
- Ladle half of the sauce in the bottom of a 9 x 12 baking dish.
- Spread the ricotta mixture over the noodles and roll them, placing them seam side down on the baking dish.
- Finish ladling the sauce over the noodles and sprinkle mozzarella cheese over each.
- Bake for 40 minutes or until cheese is melted.