Florentine Lasagna Roll is a delicious, easy, meatless dish with spinach and cheese filled pasta, rolled & baked, covered in an Italian tomato sauce.
I’ve been making this meatless Florentine Lasagna Roll for almost 20 years… for potlucks and delicious dinners with our family! Filled with spinach, three kinds of cheese, garlic and onion, then covered in a simple Italian flavored tomato sauce, this recipe is easy and FABULOUS!
Even though this meal is “meatless”, you don’t need it with three cheeses, spinach and fantastic Italian flavors shining through in this meal!
The recipe is “simple”; all you do is cook lasagna noodles, mix together a cheese and spinach filling and spread it over the noodles, roll it up, cover with an Italian-flavored tomato sauce and bake. Easy, right? Right. Anyone can make this great dish! Here’s how:
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How To Make This Lasagna Roll
Cook the spinach according to package directions, and then drain it very well, to remove as much liquid as possible.
In a medium sized bowl, combine cream cheese, Parmesan cheese, cooked and drained spinach, chopped onion, garlic cloves, black pepper, and egg.
Mix well, to completely combine ingredients. Set aside.
Cook The Pasta
Cook the lasagna noodles according to package instructions. You need 10 cooked lasagna noodles for this recipe. I cook 12, in case any of them split or break. Think of it as pasta insurance. Once cooked, drain the noodles, then arrange them on a large sheet of wax paper, overlapping the long (curly) sides to form a rectangle.
Prepare The Florentine Lasagna Roll
Once noodles are fully arranged, carefully spread the filling over the noodles. I put spoonfuls of the spinach filling over the noodles, then use the back of a spoon to spread out the filling.
Roll It Up!
Spread grated Mozzarella cheese all over the cheese/spinach filling, then carefully roll up the pasta and filling.
To roll it up: Using the wax paper to help, begin tightly rolling the noodles up (starting with the side of rectangle with straight pasta edges). Use the wax paper to help roll noodles tightly as you go. Tuck the noodle edges under as you complete the first roll, so you have a tight, firm roll to begin with.
I pulled back some of the wax paper as I rolled to show you what it should look like.
When pasta is completely rolled up, place the finished roll on a large baking sheet (one with rimmed edges). Carefully remove the last bit of wax paper from underneath the roll. The lasagna roll should look like this (see photo below).
Make The Sauce For The Florentine Lasagna Roll
Combine the sauce ingredients (tomato sauce, sugar, basil and oregano) in a medium bowl, and then stir to combine. .
Spoon the sauce over the entire surface (top and sides) of the Florentine lasagna roll. Use all of the sauce.
When completely covered with sauce, grate Parmesan cheese all over the top and sides of the roll.
Time To Bake The Florentine Lasagna Roll
Bake in a preheated, 350 degree oven for 35 minutes. Remove the baking sheet from oven, and let the Florentine Lasagna Roll stand for 5 minutes before attempting to slice it.
With a sharp knife cut slices of the Florentine Lasagna Roll, and place on individual serving plates with a large spatula. Serve with some crusty bread and a great salad, and BOOM! You’ve got yourself a great Italian “meatless” meal… just like that!
Trust me… this meal is DELICIOUS. You won’t even miss having meat in it. The flavors are amazing, it’s really EASY to make, and looks quite nice, too! Sure hope you will give this recipe a try. I think you will be pleasantly surprised! If you enjoy Italian food, you might also be interested in Florentine Manicotti, which is delicious, and uses ricotta cheese in the filling.
Have a great day during this busy holiday season. My husband and I made an intentional decision to NOT fill up this holiday season with “busy-ness” and looking for “things” to entertain us, as our culture tends to promote. Instead, we are enjoying a simple holiday season this year, trying to focus on what Christmas really means to us… the birth of our Savior, Jesus. His humble birth changed everything, and for that we are GRATEFUL.
Looking for More ITALIAN Recipes?
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Recipe Source: unknown (wrote recipe on a 3×5 card over 20 years ago- didn’t note where I got it from)
- 10 cooked lasagna noodles
- 10 ounces package frozen spinach , cooked, and well drained.
- 8 ounces package cream cheese (room temp.)
- 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese , grated
- 1/4 cup chopped onion
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 clove garlic , minced
- 1 large egg , slightly beaten
- 1 cup grated Mozzarella cheese (do not add to filling-keep separate!)
- 24 ounces tomato sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- Cook spinach according to package instructions. Drain well. In small bowl, combine cream cheese, cooked spinach, 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, chopped onion, black pepper, minced garlic and egg. Stir well until mixture is fully combined. Set aside.
- Cook lasagna noodles according to package instructions. Remove from heat; drain.
- On wax paper, arrange the noodles overlapping the long (curly) sides to form a large rectangle.
- Spread cheese/spinach filling over surface of noodles. Spread grated Mozzarella cheese over the cheese/spinach filling.
- Starting at short ends of the pasta (non curly), roll up the pasta (in jelly roll fashion), using the wax paper to help. Tuck the ends under and firm up the roll, as you roll it up, continuing to use the wax paper as a guide. When it is roll completely, carefully transfer (might have to use two spatulas) the roll to a large (9x13) baking sheet. Carefully remove the wax paper. Seam side should be down on the sheet.
- In a small bowl, combine tomato sauce, sugar, basil and oregano. Stir to combine.
- Spread the sauce over top and sides of entire lasagna roll. Grate Parmesan cheese over top of the roll. Bake in preheated oven at 350 degrees for 35 minutes. Remove baking sheet from oven. Let Lasagna Roll stand for 5 minutes before attempting to slice. Using a sharp knife, slice into serving sizes, and using a spatula, place slices onto individual serving plates. Enjoy!
Here’s one more to pin on your Pinterest boards!
LOVE this recipe! It has been a hit whenever I have made it, and I, too, have used it for years. It originally came out of the Pillsbury Recipe Books that were sold at grocery store checkouts! Thanks for posting!!
Thanks for your note, Kathleen! It is a family favorite around here, for sure! Thanks for the tip about the source!