I definitely made this recipe before we all got whatever plague my son’s pre-school passed along to us this week.

Pre-school has been great for P’s social development and terrible for mine!  We are sick all the time, I swear he misses like 50% of pre-school from being sick.  It’s a ruthless cycle of life in the petri dish of school germs.

I took two weeks off in a row from work and had huge recipe plans for those two weeks which all went to shit pretty quickly beginning with a 104 degree fever on my four year old about a week ago.  The kids finally started feeling better today but that just means that I’m where they were 3 days ago (in fetal position on the sofa) and my husband is a day behind me.  We’ve collectively gone through 7 boxes of cool touch tissues plus all my patience necessary for dealing with a whiney, demanding toddler.  I actually forgot, legitimately FORGOT, my birthday and was reminded when a sweet card from my MIL (thanks Diane) showed up in the mail.

My sister told me this means I’m truly a Mom now, meaning, I’ve officially put everyone else’s needs before mine and forgot my own friggin’ birthday.  She’s not wrong because  Valentine’s Day was spent in the ER (we were afraid P had appendicitis) and my actual birthday was spent in the doctor’s office for myself.  Dumb.  I need a massage.  Stay with me and I swear this post gets better because this scalloped potato roll could possibly cure the sick, bridge party gaps and make you love everyone again because it is TO DIE FOR.  This recipe stems from a facebook video I found, you know the ones, those sped up recipe videos of people making stuff that looks really cool, super accessible and completed in under 3 minutes flat (sped up of course).  The kind of videos that make you think, “hey, I can totally make THAT“?  Well, here’s the link to three minute said scalloped potato roll video.  Serve this to your fam with a side salad and I’d say you are good to go.  The prof told me that it is like an awesome Polska lasagne and he’s not wrong!  I changed mine slightly adding more spices and tomato sauce instead of canned tomatoes (because – chunks).  If you want to follow the recipe to a T, the only things I’d recommend doing differently are removing the fat from the beef after cooking (it got too greasy) and making possibly two more rows of potatoes, meaning, overlaying the potatoes more tightly together.

Basically, this recipe has four parts.  1. Baking the potatoes, 2. cooking the meat, 3. wilting the spinach down (because we all know 6 cups of spinach fits in the palm of your hand when cooked) and, 4. assembly.  I think this is a fun recipe you can have your kiddo assist with, as placing the potatoes on the parchment sheet felt like dealing myself a loner hand of euchre – you (almost) can’t lose!  If my child was well I definitely think he would have gotten into it.  First part, potatoes: sure you can slice them, but dang it go out and buy yourself a mandolin.  Super fun, easy and quick to use, I had all my potatoes scalloped in under 5 minutes.  I also didn’t use six potatoes, I only used two Russets but probably should have used three.  Anyway, slice them 1/8″ of an inch in thickness and place them tightly overlapping on a piece of parchment paper that you’ve already sprinkled with a cup of parm.  So you’ll need a cup of parm under the potatoes and a cup of parm on top of the potatoes.  It seems like an excessively expensive amount of parm, but it is the glue that holds your roll together so don’t skimp.  Season with a few pinches of salt and bake at 350 °F for 30-35 minutes or until browned on top like this:

Take care not to bake them too long, as you do need them flexible enough to roll.  While the potatoes are baking, tackle the meat.  Brown the onion until caramelized (about 15 minutes) then add the beef.  Once the beef is cooked through (and here’s where I diverge from Tasty’s recipe) skim off the fat and add the can of tomato sauce, half a teaspoon paprika, half a teaspoon of turmeric, half a teaspoon of chili powder, and the called for parsley, salt and pepper.  Let it cook down a little bit over medium low heat so it’s not runny and then remove from the heat.  Lastly, you’ll need to make the spinach mixture.  Wilt the spinach with olive oil and garlic.  I used granulated instead (about half a teaspoon) and it worked out just great.  Transfer spinach to a bowl and mix with ricotta. You are ready for assembly.  Spread the spinach mixture all over the potatoes, leaving like a half inch border.

Next, spread the meat over top of the spinach and lastly sprinkle mozzarella cheese over the meat.  To roll, grab the longer length side of the parchment and use the parchment to nudge the loaf along, tucking in the middle to get yourself rolling. Try to roll it as tightly as possible.  If it comes apart a little bit (because you didn’t tightly overlap the potatoes enough like I did), you can use some toothpicks to secure the loaf together.  Of course the only toothpicks I could find were fancy cocktail ones but hey, the fancy loops made for easy removal later.  Make sure the seam side is down, then bake at 350 °F for fifteen minutes.  Garnish with sprinkled parsley then slice with a good serrated knife.  This recipe should make 8 servings.

Scalloped Potato Roll (recipe slightly diverged from Tasty)

Ingredients:

• 3 large russet potatoes, sliced 1/16″ thin
• 2 cups grated parmesan cheese, divided
• 3 teaspoons salt divided
• 4 teaspoons olive oil, divided
• 1 sweet onion, diced
• 1 lb ground beef (I used 90/10)
• 1 14 oz can tomato sauce
• 4 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
• 6 cups spinach
• 1 teaspoon granulated garlic powder
• 1 cup ricotta cheese
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Method:

Part I: Potatoes

1. Preheat oven to 350˚F.
2. Using a mandolin (or a knife) cut the potatoes so they are 1/8″ thick.
3. Put a piece of parchment paper on a cookie sheet and sprinkle 1 cup of the parmesan over top of it.
4. Place the potatoes over top of the parmesan so each potato is tightly overlapping (see above photo) the next potato.
5. Sprinkle the remaining cup of parmesan over top of the potato sheet along with 1 teaspoon of salt and bake at 350˚F for 30 minutes or until golden brown and the potatoes are flexible and slightly crispy.

Part II: Beef

1. While the potatoes are baking, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat, then add the onions and cook until caramelized (about 15 minutes).
2. Add the beef to the skillet with the onions and mix with the onion until cooked through.
3. Drain the fat from the cooked beef.
4. Add the can of tomato sauce, 3 tablespoons of parsley, paprika, turmeric, chili powder, 1 teaspoon of salt, and pepper to the cooked beef.  Stir well and remove from heat.

Part III: Spinach

1. In a skillet heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat then add the spinach, cook until wilted.
2. Add 1 teaspoon of salt and the garlic.
3. Stir to combine and remove from heat.
4. In a bowl combine the spinach mixture and the ricotta. Set aside.

Part IV: Assembly

1. Evenly spread the spinach mixture over the cooked potatoes, leaving a 1/2″ border at the edges.
2. Next, evenly spread the beef mixture over the spinach mixture, then sprinkle 1 cup of mozzarella over top of the beef.
3. Take the longest side of the potato sheet and using the parchment paper to help roll and your fingers to tuck,  start rolling upward, making sure the ingredients aren’t gushing out of the ends.
4. Secure with toothpicks if necessary.
5. Once rolled, place back onto parchment paper on a cookie sheet and bake at 350˚F for anther 15 minutes.
6. Sprinkle with parsley to garnish.
7. Bask in ooohs and ahhhhhs.