I absolutely love to host dinner parties. Like, LOVE love. It sits way up high on my list of favorite things to do. Pre-kids many Saturday evenings for my husband and I were spent hosting a late evening multiple course dinner with our favorite close friends. We would graze on food, sip on wine and laugh an uncontrollable amount. With no curfew. Or bedtime. Or priorities like kids to care for in the morning. Ahh…the glory days.
So, kids came along. And our love for hosting dinner parties has not changed one bit, but they way we go about it has. Just slightly. The late evening dinners have turned into “just come over anytime after your kids wake up from naps!” The multiple courses with our favorite friends have become an eat-as-fast-as-you-can-while-the-kids-are-all-happy-and-getting-along sort of deal. But we definitely still graze on food, sip on wine and laugh uncontrollably. There’s just more chaos. And entertainment. And distraction. It’s the new dinner party and it’s pretty killer.
As much as I love to throw dinner parties, the more time goes on the more challenging they become. Things are busy, schedules are more full and it just doesn’t leave me as much time to work in the kitchen for days straight preparing finicky appetizers and detail-oriented dishes. For those of you that follow my personal blog, you know I am never willing to sacrifice taste, quality or health with regard to food, but I am always willing to save on time. I have always had my go-to recipe for marinara sauce but some days I just don’t have time to whip that up in a hurry for guests.
I was asked to host a dinner party to try out Bertolli’s line of sauces. So, I gathered up a couple of close friends and their kiddos, threw together an elegant yet kid friendly Italian meal (swapping out Bertolli’s Marinara with Burgundy Wine for my homemade marinara sauce) along with a salad and a couple of small plates, set up a ‘kids table’ and an ‘adult table’ with all the fixings and voilà! One of the most easy, fun, family-style dinner parties I think we have ever hosted!
I’ve got to tell you-using that Bertolli Marinara Sauce saved me an incredible amount of time and it made putting together these yummy lasagna rolls that I’m about to share with you so simple. And the taste? My husband and I took a little spoonful before I poured in on top of those cheesy, rich, delicious pasta roll-ups and were astounded at how flavorful this sauce was, you guys. It makes me anxious to try another of their many varieties of sauces. I can assure you, from this day forward, I will be keeping that marinara stocked in my pantry. It is going to make busy weeknights a breeze-I even envision it as sauce for homemade pizzas-num.
Here’s what I did:
The morning of the party I put together these lasagna rolls and stored them in the fridge, put a few antipasti plates together, chopped and diced for a salad and made a vinaigrette
Early in the afternoon I put together a kids table. I used white craft paper to top the tables and gave each kiddo their own cup of crayons. This equaled more happy time for the kiddos, which directly equaled more catch up time for the grown ups. 🙂 I also put a grown up table together with a red and a white wine, linens and pretty fresh flowers…but made sure to leave plenty of room for top notch grub.
Late in the afternoon, I threw the lasagna rolls in the oven to bake, assembled the salad and laid out the small plates and we were set. We served this family style-it was so cozy and such a great meal to pair with catching up with great friends. Cheers to the new dinner party!
Italian Sausage and Ricotta Lasagna Rolls
Ingredients
1 (12-16 Ounce) Box Lasagna Noodles
1/2 Pound Ground Italian Sausage, cooked and crumbled
1 (16 Ounce) Container Whole Milk Ricotta Cheese
2 Cups Shredded Mozzarella or Provolone Cheese (we use a blend of the two), divided
1 Cups Grated Parmesan Cheese
1 Large Egg, lightly beaten
1/4 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
1/8 Teaspoon Black Pepper
2 (24 Ounce) Jars Bertolli Marinara with Burgundy Wine
Chopped Basil, for garnish
Directions
Preheat oven to 425. Pour 1 jar of the Bertolli Marinara Sauce in the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook lasagna noodles until they are al dente. Drain and lay flat on parchment paper or a non-stick surface.
While pasta is cooking add the sausage, ricotta, 1/2 Cup mozzarella/provolone, parmesan, egg, salt and pepper to a medium sized bowl. Stir well to combine. (can be made ahead and stored in the fridge for up to 2 days)
Begin to roll up your lasagna noodles: Spread about 2-3 Tablespoons of the ricotta mixture onto each lasagna noodle and roll up. Place, seam side down, into the prepared baking dish. Pour the other jar of marinara on top of the lasagna rolls and sprinkle with the remaining 1 1/2 Cups Mozzarella/Provolone. Cover with foil (can store in the fridge at this point for up to 1 day) and bake for 20 minutes. Remove foil and cook for an addition 20 minutes or until sauce is bubbly and cheese just begins to brown. Serves 6+
From now through November 5th, you can save on the Bertolli pasta sauce I use and others at Ahold stores including Stop & Shop, Giant and Martin’s. Look for Bertolli in the pasta sauce aisle and on display in the meat department!
This post is sponsored by Lunchbox. All opinions are 100% my own.
