Favorite Recipes: Caprese Lasagna Roll Ups

I found this recipe on Pinterest via www.cookingclassy.com I made a small alternation. I can't digest ricotta cheese very well so instead of ricotta I used cottage cheese and blended it to make it a little thicker. I also added some pepperoni slices to half of the noodles. It was a little bit of a process to prep and put everything together but it was all worth it. The lasagna was really tasty and I'll definitely make this again! I also used toothpicks to secure the rolls. I don't have an 11x7 inch dish so I used my 8x8 inch dish.

Caprese Lasagna Roll Ups (8 servings) (WW 8 pts without the pepperoni, 12 with the pepperoni)

8 lasagna noodles, uncooked
14 oz freshly shredded, low-sodium part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided
3/4 c cottage cheese (or ricotta if you prefer)
1 large egg white
1/3 c freshly, finely shredded parmesan cheese (I used parmigiano-reggiano)
3-4 medium roma tomatoes, thinly sliced
14 slices of pepperoni, if using
1/4 c chopped fresh basil, plus more for garnish
1 c marinara sauce, recipe follows

*Marinara Sauce

2 tbsp EVOO
1/4 c finely chopped yellow onion
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes
Salt and pepper to taste

*For Marinara Sauce: Heat oil in saucepan over med-high. Add onion to hot oil and saute about 3 minutes, until soft, adding garlic during last minute of cooking. Pour in crushed tomatoes and season with salt and pepper to taste. Bring mixture just to boil, then reduce heat and simmer about 20-25 minutes, allowing some of the water in the evaporated tomatoes to evaporate, while you prepare the noodles and filling.

*Lasagna: Preheat oven to 350. Cook pasta four pieces at a time for 8-10 minutes until al dente. Drain pasta and align four noodles at a time on parchment or wax paper.

For filling, in large mixing bowl, whisk together cottage cheese and egg white until well blended. Stir in parmesan cheese. Mix in 12 oz of mozzarella cheese and season with black pepper to taste.

Place 1/4 c of cheese mixture over each lasagna noodle and spread into an even layer, going from one end of the lasagna to the other. (I found that using my hands worked a lot better.) Place 3-4 tomato slices over cheese mixture and then sprinkle fresh basil over the top of each noodle. (Since I also used some pepperoni, I put pepperoni slices on four of the noodles and sprinkled basil on top.)

Snugly roll lasagna noodles to opposite end; secure with toothpicks as needed. Spread about 1/4 c sauce in bottom of dish. Place lasagna rolls up into the dish. Top each roll with about 2 tbsp of the sauce so they don't dry out while baking. Sprinkle top with remaining 2 oz mozzarella cheese. Bake in oven for 30 minutes or until heated through. I placed a sheet of foil on my dish since I was using a smaller dish. After 30 minutes, I took the foil off and put it back in the oven for an additional 10 minutes.

Remove from oven and remove toothpicks and serve.

All marinara ingredients added...