Tara Little
I absolutely LOVE Italian food!  I could eat it everyday if I didn’t care about my waistline.  So while watching the Nate Berkus Show, chef George Duran shared an easy and delicious alternative to traditional lasagna recipes.
Now the recipe he provided is excellent but being the girl that I am, I had to add a few tweaks to the recipe to suit my taste buds and satisfy the hungry men in my household.  : )

Duran’s Stuffed Lasagna Rolls
Prep: 25 minutes
Cook: 7 minutes
Bake: 20 minutes
Yield: 5 to 6 servings

Ingredients
12 no-cook lasagna noodles
2 to 3 hot Italian sausages
1 ½ cups part-skim ricotta cheese
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon kosher salt or ¾ teaspoon table salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
1 cup shredded mozzarella

Directions
In a large pan of boiling, salted water cook the lasagna noodles for 3 to 3 minutes or until they are just soft (don’t overcook them). Drain and rinse with cold water. Drain on paper towels.Remove the casings from the sausages. Crumble the meat into a nonstick skillet. Cook over high heat about 5 to 6 minutes or until browned, breaking up the sausage with a wooden spoon. Remove from the pan and set aside, In a bowl mix the ricotta, Parmesan, egg, basil, salt, and pepper until combined. Set aside. Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a 13x9x2-inch lasagna pan evenly spread half of the tomatoes.To assemble the lasagna rolls, place a lasagna noodle on a work surface with the short side toward you. Put 2 tablespoons of the ricotta mixture on the bottom half of the noodle; add 1 tablespoon of the cooked sausage. Roll noodle starting at the bottom and place in the lasagna pan. Prepare the remaining noodles in the same way, lining them up in the pan. Spread the remaining tomatoes over the rolls and top with the mozzarella cheese. Cover with foil and bake for 10 to 15 minutes. Uncover and bake for 10 to 15 minutes more or until the cheese is bubbling and lightly browned.

My Additions:

1 lb Ground Beef
1 Jar Spaghetti Sauce
1 Tablespoon Italian Seasoning
1 Tablespoon Garlic Powder
1 Tablespoon Onion Powder
1 Onion
1 Green Pepper
1 Cup Italian Cheese Blend

I made the recipe as described above but cooked the ground beef, seasonings, onion and green pepper with the sausage.  When that was thoroughly cooked, I added about half of the jar of tomato sauce to the meat mixture.  I used the remaining sauce to pour over the rolls.  We like extra cheese so I added the cheese blend in the rolls and on top too.

This was an EASY and YUMMY dish that I recommend everyone to try one to at least once!!!

Happy Cooking!!  xoxox………Tara