Lasagna Rolls with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

Here's a twist on lasagna, in my on-going attempt to rid the pasta of its potluck connotations. This makes a perfect dinner for too. Ingredients such as pre-sliced mushrooms, bottled roasted red bell peppers (instead of roasting your own) and canned tomatoes make this dish come together quickly enough for a week night.

Cook 4 lasagna noodles according to package directions - drain, rinse under cold water (which I forgot to do!) and set aside.

Heat 2 teaspoons olive oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1/4 cup finely chopped onion, 4 ounces of sliced mushrooms, 3 ounces of fresh baby spinach and 1 large minced garlic clove; saute 5 minutes.

Remove from heat and stir in 1/4 cup shredded vegan mozzarella (such as Galaxy Foods), 1/4 cup crumbled firm tofu (in place of ricotta), 1 tablespoon chopped basil, 1/4 tsp. salt and 1/8 tsp. crushed red pepper. Set aside.

In a food processor, make the sauce by combining: 1 and 1/2 teaspoons red wine vinegar, 1/8 tsp. salt, a dash of black pepper, 1 minced garlic clove, 3/4 cups canned diced tomatoes (undrained - that's about half of a 14.5-ounce can), half of a 7-ounce bottle of roasted red bell pepper (also undrained) and a dash of crushed red pepper. Process until smooth.

Lay the cooked lasagna noodles on a flat surface. Spoon 1/4 cup of the mushroom mixture onto each, and roll up jelly-roll fashion (i.e. start at one end and roll loosely towards the other end). Place in an 8x8 inch baking dish, seam-side down. Top each with 1/4 cup of the sauce.

Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes. If you want to save even more time, place the rolled up noodles in a microwave safe dish instead, cover with plastic wrap and microwave for 5 minutes.

2 rolls makes an entree of 400 calories.

Cost:
onion $0.67
presliced mushrooms $2.49
baby spinach $2.50
canned diced tomatoes $2.19
bottled roasted red bell peppers $2.31