Lasagna Roll-Ups

If there's one thing I've learned in my 16ish months of carrying babies in my belly, it's this: pregnant women don't like to touch raw meat. Scratch that. I have yet to meet any women who like to touch raw meat. It's the most troubling thing to hold this nasty, slimey, sometimes-bloody animal in your hand and then magically find it appetizing an hour later after cooking it. Maybe it's just me. But I don't think it is.

That being said, I'm riding the pasta train all the way through this pregnancy. I love no-meat meals because it's so much less work, and I don't have to deal with animal carcasses {bonus!}. But hey, if you're into that, these lasagna roll-ups can be customized to hold any kind of meat you'd like.

Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 15 oz. ricotta cheese
• 8 oz. bag shredded mozzarella
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup spinach (optional)
• 1 box lasagna noodles
• 1 container pasta sauce
• Garlic (optional)
• Italian seasoning (optional)

Directions:

First we're going to mix the ricotta cheese, egg and spinach in a large bowl, along with about 1/4 cup of the mozzarella cheese. You can doctor this mixture by adding minced garlic, Italian seasoning, and you can also include any kind of meat if you want.

It probably goes without saying, but cook and drain the noodles. The oven-ready noodles aren't going to work for this meal.

Place 1-2 heaping spoonfuls of the mixture onto the lasagna noodles.

Roll 'em up!

Arrange in a 13x9 pan. 

{Full disclosure, this recipe made 2 pans for me!}

Pour on the pasta sauce and sprinkle the rest of the mozzarella cheese on top. 

Bake at 350° for 30-45 minutes or until cheese is hot and bubbly.

Guys, Judah wanted to say hello. "Hi, Judah!"

That's it! Bada-bing, bada-boom.

Love and lasagna,

White Pizza

Homemade pizzas have always been a favorite around here, especially on Sunday afternoon. When Tim and I come home from church, we throw on our sweats, throw together some version of a homemade pizza, toss a salad, and enjoy a few minutes of peace and quite before another crazy week. And if I'm feeling really crazy, I'll chill a few glasses and drink some diet root beer. Don't worry, though, I don't make a habit of it.

The real challenge is in mixing it up. We typically stick with either the three meat pizza or a traditional pepperoni pizza. If I have time, I made the pizza dough ahead of time; otherwise, I just buy the pre-made pizza crusts. And let me tell you, even though it's more expensive than the off brand, Boboli pizza crusts are the best I've had.

And let me tell you, I have eaten a lot of pizza in my lifetime.

So there's this restaurant called Olympian Grill in Greenville, and it's a Wadsworth hotspot. Matt and Stef, my brother and sister-in-law, always order a white pizza, but having an extremely limited palette, I never actually tried it. So I did some research, a lot of googling, and asked around to all the white-pizza-loving people in my life. I realize there are many different variations, but this one is extremely fast and only requires five ingredients.

Ingredients:

• Garlic flavored olive oil 
• Pizza dough 
• This can be homemade, pre-cooked store bought, or raw store bought. Whatever works for you. I'm using a Boboli pre-cooked pizza crust to save time. 
• 3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese 
• Ricotta cheese 
• Oregano
• Salt and pepper

Directions:

• Sprinkle some olive oil onto a pizza pan (unless you're using a stone, which would make this step unnecessary) 
• Set the pizza dough/crust on the pan 
• Top with more olive oil. Don't flood it, but be generous. It adds a great deal to the flavor and makes it nice and crispy. 
• Cover with shredded mozzarella 
• Add about 5-6 dollops of ricotta cheese throughout the pizza
• Do not spread the ricotta cheese out. It's supposed to be big spoonfuls all over the place, and it will set and spread as it cooks.
• Top with a little bit of oregano, and add a pinch of salt and pepper 
• Bake at 400F for about 10-12 minutes if you have a pre-made crust. If you're using raw dough, bake about 25 minutes.

Remember, weekends should be effortless, and this pizza is exactly that.

Love,

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