Lasanga Rolls( Giada De Laurentis).....

Yesterday was a dreary, rainey stay at home day so I decided to cook something a little bit more labor intensive. I saw Giada make these on foodtv last week and I knew I had everything to make them. As it turned out, I didnt have lasagna noodles so I ran uptown for that and some more milk. Giada says you should only use whole milk, but I used 2 percent with no ill effects.

Giada also uses jarred sauce. I made my own marinara using imported san marzano tomatoes. I also throw a reggiano rind in my sauce while its simmering so that the wonderful flavors of the cheese infuse the sauce. The rest of the recipe is quite simple. Make up a bechemal, boil the noodles until al dente, fill the noodles with a mix of ricotta, parmesean, egg and spinach( Giada uses proscuitto, but I don't care for that so I used some italian sausage). cover with marinara and cheese and bake for 20 minutes( foil covered). Uncover and bake for 10 minutes more.

I asked Robin how she liked it and that led to a discussion about how much I like Ricotta and how she really doesnt. Growing up, her mother made lasagna with cottage cheese. I understand why as Ricotta is expensive here,( I buy it in Michigan). I grew up in Florida where most people are transplated NY'ers. In fact, I can't wait to eat a Calzone or baked ziti in Ft. Lauderdale because they are filled with Ricotta. Here, the calzones are called Panzerotti's and are filled with Mozzarella. It's still funny to me that we like and crave what we grew up with.

How do you make your lasagna?