I heart Giada.

Ok, so if I'm being honest, I have a strictly platonic food crush on Ms. De Laurentis. Although I find everything she says to be a underlying sexual innuendo (I think she describes every food as "creamy"... creamy = sexy? You decide), I do love her recipes.

Tonight's attempt at Shrimp Lasagna Rolls with Creamy Marinara could have been a disaster, but with some quick thinking culinary skills, I turned my rolls into an actual lasagna! See, I knew I had lasagna noodles here... I was just unaware that they were the no boil kind until I was just ready to toss them into the boiling stock pot of salted water!

So here's the recipe... I'll post it as it's meant to be, however, if you're interested in making it into a lasagna, ya just layer pasta sheet, shrimp mixture, creamy marinara sauce. And if you're using the boil-less pasta sheets, follow the bake time direction on your box. Enjoy :)


Shrimp Lasagna Rolls with Creamy Marinara



1 lb lasagna noodles
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 (15 oz) containers whole-milk ricotta (I used part-skim and it was fine)
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
3 cups marinara sauce, store-bought or homemade
1 1/2 cups grated mozzarella cheese

Preheat the oven to 350.
Bring a large pot of salted water to boil over high heat. Add the pasta and partially cook until tender but still firm to the bite, about 6-8 minutes. Drain.
Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Season the shrimp with salt and pepper. Add the shrimp and garlic to the pan and saute until shrimp are cooked, about 4 minutes, stirring often. Remove from heat and let cool. Coarsely chop the cooled shrimp and place in a bowl with 2 cups ricotta cheese, the Parmesan cheese, eggs, basil, 3/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and the nutmeg. Stir to combine.
In another bowl, combine the marinara sauce with remaining 1 cup ricotta and stir to combine.
To make lasagna, cover the bottom of a 9 x 13" baking dish with 1 cup marinara mixture. Lay 4 noodles flat on a dry work surface. Spread about 1/4 cup shrimp mixture evenly over each noodle. Roll up and place seam-side down in the baking dish. Repeat twice more to make 12 lasagna rolls.
Drizzle the rolls with the remaining marinara mixture and top with mozzarella. Bake until lasagna rolls are heated through and cheese begins to brown, about 25 minutes.