2 Hour Lasagna Roll-Ups

If you are reading this post looking for a recipe for fantastic, but time consuming lasagna roll-up recipe, I promise you will be disappointed.

This is a post about a story.  A story that makes our family and friends laugh when we tell it.  A story that makes me laugh just to think about it. 

I'm in the mood for laughter tonight.

So here we go...

First of all...a little background. 

My husband can cook.  I was very impressed with how well he knew his way around a kitchen when we were dating.  He prefers, though, to let me cook.  (Good thing I like it)

I coach volleyball and basketball, volleyball being the more intense time commitment in the evenings.  I'm head coach and practice runs until about 5:30.  Since I coach middle school girls, I am required to wait until every last one of them has been picked up.  (That's a whole different post...)  This means that I am not usually home before 6:15. 

Cooking during the fall requires quick, easy recipes that can be either made ahead of time,  thrown together very quickly when I get home, or started by Ethan while I am on my way.

The night of lasagna roll-ups required Ethan to start it. 

You see, lasagna roll-ups are a tad bit more work than regular lasagna.  I know this, but I enjoy cooking and that is what I wanted for dinner. 

Ethan's job was to cook the meat, add sauce, and boil the noodles by the time I got home.  This way all I had to do what assemble the roll up and pop it in the oven. 

There was no problem cooking the meat.  He had that one taken care of.  Easily.

The noodles, however, were a different story.

Apparently, Ethan had never cooked lasagna noodles before.  He was a bit puzzled. 

He took out the medium sized pot (which is what we usually use to cook pasta), filled it with water, and waited for it to boil.

When it came time to add the noodles, he was a bit puzzled.  The shape of the long noodle did NOT and would NOT fit in the medium sized pan.  He stuck it in anyway.

Then rethought that and took it out.  Called me. 

"How in the hell are you supposed to cook lasagna noodles anyway?  They don't fit in the pot!"

I chuckled a bit while driving and asked him which pot he has out.

"The one we always use to cook pasta."

I explained that you need the bigger pot and the noodles will soften and all eventually get in the water.

Ohhh...ok. 

I then asked him to just start the water in the bigger pot so it would be boiling by the time I got home.  A little behind schedule, no biggie.

I get home to half curled lasagna noodles and no boiling water, yet... 

10 minutes later, not boiling.  But, it's a big pot of water...

I hear "Not my fault!" coming from the bedroom where he has taken up a game of baseball on the X-Box

20 minutes later...not boiling. I sigh and decide that he must have put really really cold water into the pot because there's still not one single bubble.  (I check to make sure he had the burner on high)

"Not my fault!"

45 minutes later...STILL NOT BOILING!  Ok...something is wrong.  It doesn't take that long for water to boil.

"Not my fault!"

After a little investigation I found that he had indeed set the burner on high, and the pot was on the burner set to high.  However, his mistake was placing the larger pot of water on the smallest element on the stove top.  Ah-Ha!  It WAS his fault!

By this point...we were both hungry and tired and laughing hysterically.  It was either laugh or cry.  I was about 12 weeks pregnant so either one of those emotions would have been acceptable.  Laugh it was.

So by the time I got the big pot moved to the big heating element and water boiling it was already past 7:30.  (Ethan comes in to check progress...and grab a bag of chips to munch on.)

We are having these roll-ups, even if it means eating at 10:00 at night!

Finally noodles are done, oven is preheating, and I begin assembling the rolls. 

30 more minutes in the oven and voila!  Dinner is served.

They were the BEST 2 hour lasagna roll ups I had ever eaten. 

Lessons learned from this adventure: 
1.  Make sure husband knows how to cook lasagna noodles.
2.  Make sure husband puts pot on correct burner.
3.  Make regular lasagna instead of roll-ups during volleyball season!
4.  Laugh always!