It's bumpy off the rails

Sometimes you are in a funk and don't want to try any new recipes - that's felt like me the last few weeks for some reason. One thing I love to do is make meals ahead of time. So on a hot holiday Monday (4th of July) I knew wasn't feeling well (after too much outside time) when I didn't want to make this recipe for Tuesday. Instead I made it Tuesday for Wednesday. This recipe was very easy just broken down into different parts and pieces. This was the first roll up recipe I’ve encountered that had sauce inside of the rollup... very smart! Makes the cheese less dense. I used all Italian sausage since that's what we have a surplus of in the freezer. We all loved these roll ups and I could see making a pan for the freezer for a freezer meal some time. I could also see using cottage cheese instead of ricotta because... I grew up with my lasagna that way... I'm Dutch... what do you want? I also added cooked spinach to my cheese filling because we had some and might as well use it! Yes I like to follow recipes and then go way off the rails... it's how I roll... off the rails. Sometimes it's bumpy.

Lasagna Roll Ups
Cheese Filling
15 oz. ricotta cheese
cooked spinach (4 cups fresh wilted down with garlic)
1 large egg
2 cups mozzarella cheese
½ cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
1 teaspoon dried oregano
½ tsp each: salt, dried basil, dried parsley
¼ tsp pepper

Meat Sauce
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small yellow onion, diced
½ lb. ground beef
½ lb. ground sausage
3 cloves garlic
½ cup chicken broth
32 oz. marinara sauce

Lasagna
12 lasagna noodles, plus extra in case of breakage
1.5 cups mozzarella cheese

Instructions
Combine the cheese filling mixture in a medium bowl and set aside. Take ½ cup of the marinara sauce and spread it on the bottom of a 9 x 13-inch baking dish.
Preheat oven to 375° and bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
While the water is heating up, heat olive oil over medium heat and add the diced onions. Let them soften for 10 minutes. (This allows them to release a little sugar which is a nice offset to the acidity of the tomatoes.)
Add the ground beef and sausage and increase heat to medium-high. Use a spatula to break up the meat so that it’s very fine and crumbled. Cook for 8-10 minutes, or until cooked through. Add garlic during the last minute. Drain excess grease.
Add the chicken broth and use a silicone spatula to “clean” the bottom and sides of the pot. Add the remaining marinara sauce along with the Worcestershire sauce and hot sauce. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.
Let the sauce simmer gently while you boil the lasagna noodles to al dente according to package instructions. Drain and rinse with cold water. This stops the noodles from cooking and cools them off for easy handling.
Line the noodles up on a parchment or wax paper.
Spread an even layer of the cheese mixture over each lasagna noodle, about 2 ½ tablespoons each.
Spread ¼ cup of sauce over each noodle, (3 cups total), and reserve the rest.
Roll up the noodles (tightly, while keeping the filling in), and transfer them to the baking dish. Top with remaining meat sauce, then sprinkle with remaining mozzarella.
Spray foil with nonstick cooking spray and place it spray-side-down on top of the baking dish to prevent the cheese from sticking to it.
Bake for 35 minutes. If desired, remove foil and broil at 450° to brown the top more, watch it carefully during this time.
Remove and garnish with fresh parsley prior to serving.