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These pizza lasagna rolls are a fun meal that the whole family will love — what’s not to love about pizza and lasagna? With a little planning ahead, they are a great weeknight meal.

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This post is sponsored by KRAFT. All opinions are my own.

As I mentioned last week, I’ve partnered with KRAFT and HUNT’s to bring you a little series about making weeknight meals easier. In my first post, I provided some tips for simplifying weeknight meal prep. Boiled down, the two main tips are these:

• Plan ahead.
• Have a stocked pantry — in my first post in this series, I told you why KRAFT Grated Parmesan Cheese and HUNT’s Diced Tomatoes have a spot in my fridge/pantry.

This recipe focuses on planning ahead. Next week I’ll bring you a recipe that can be created with all pantry staples. (This one can too, actually, depending on your definition of “stocked.”) This recipe would be a great one to prep the day ahead and eat the following day.

At first glance, this recipe might seem fancy and complicated. They are pretty little lasagna rolls, after all. The great thing about this recipe is that it can be prepared in advance. Even over a couple of days! Make the sauce Saturday, make the rolls Sunday, and you’ve got an amazing dinner to look forward to on Monday. All you’ll have to do is throw it in the oven when you get home from work or your play date or whatever Monday might hold. We all know Monday could use all the help it can get, so having dinner waiting in the fridge for you is definitely something to look forward to at the end of the day.

The sauce used in these lasagna rolls is a simple pizza sauce made with HUNT’s Diced Tomatoes. You could used crushed tomatoes for this recipe and skip the puréeing step if you have those on hand. I chose to use the diced tomatoes because they are one of my pantry staples. I like them because they have multiple functions and can be used for traditional things such as beefing up a soup or chili but they can also be quickly puréed for a sauce such as this one. I used my immersion blender to purée the sauce but you may also use a blender or a food processor. Always be careful when puréeing hot, red liquids! And wear an apron. Plan to make this sauce a day or two in advance and have it ready for this recipe. The sauce is really simple to make and is mostly hands-off time for it to simmer and for the flavors to meld.

The next step is making a quick mixture to fill the rolls with. It starts with KRAFT Grated Parmesan Cheese, ricotta cheese, mozzarella cheese, and some parsley. Throw in a beaten egg to help bind the mixture together. This mixture gets spread on cooked lasagna noodles and topped with slices of pepperoni.

You then roll them up and place them seam side down in a baking dish that has been sprayed and given a layer of that delicious homemade pizza sauce.

Repeat with each lasagna noodle until they are all filled!

Then you spoon more of that delicious sauce over all the filled lasagna rolls.

Top with more great cheese….

This is when you would cover with foil and refrigerate if you were making this a day in advance. When you’re ready, you’ll stick it in a preheated oven and bake until heated through, golden brown and bubbling.

And clearly, the best part of the whole process is serving these up and eating them! I let my pan rest for about 10 minutes just for everything to come back together a little. This makes it easier to serve.

Enjoy!

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Verdict: We all loved these pizza lasagna rolls. What is there not to love about pepperoni, cheese, pasta and homemade sauce?
Husband’s take: See “Verdict.”
Changes I would make: None are necessary, but knowing me, I’d probably “health” it up a little next time with some chopped spinach.
Difficulty: Easy!

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Still need more “Inspired Authenticity, Weeknight Simplicity” inspiration? I have a Pinterest board devoted to the subject and you can also check out KRAFT’s Facebook and Pinterest pages for tons of great recipes.

Thanks for reading! As always, if you love this recipe, make sure to subscribe to my newsletter so you’ll never miss a recipe, or you can always find me on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Pinterest, and Instagram.

Disclosure: I am working in partnership with the KRAFT brand and I am receiving compensation for my participation in this campaign. All thoughts/opinions are 100% my own.

Original article and pictures take http://www.rachelcooks.com/2014/01/27/pepperoni-pizza-lasagna-rolls/ site