Lasagna was never a favorite of mine. However, it is the ideal dish for feeding a large crowd in a casual setting. Tasty as it is, once the serving process begins it quickly looks like leftovers. That's not a big problem in a family setting but put it on a buffet and it loses appeal pretty quickly. So the idea of an individual portion that retains its appearance throughout the serving process struck a chord with me. I was also interested in something that could be frozen and thawed successfully. The sauce is meatless. The ingredients are standard except for a half a cup of finely chopped carrots sauteed with the onion and garlic and a small bit of added lemon zest. I also resist the southern impulse to simmer this all day and limit the cooking time to less than a hour and add the herbs the last 15 minutes of that time.The cheese layer is slightly different, primarily to hold up through the cooking process and not disintegrate into the familiar oil and curd appearance associated with pan lasagna. It includes cream cheese in the blend of cheeses and egg whites are used instead of whole eggs to retain the white color. The cheese and egg layer is cooked in a double boiler since it is not baked. Sauce and cheese filling are thoroughly chilled before assembling into rolls and then individually wrapped in foil that has been lightly coated with olive oil to prevent the rolls from sticking to the foil.
The frozen packets are thawed in the fridge over night and gently steamed a few minutes, just long enough to heat through. The idea is to keep the noodles from toughening. Since everything has been cooked prior to freezing it doesn't need to be subjected to a prolonged baking process.
