Turkey Lasagna

The other day I was in the grocery store and walked through the cheese section, I’m always looking for samples of cheese, and that day I really lucked out.  They had 2 samples that were really good.  One was a cheddar with a jalapeno apricot jelly that was very good, and the other was a mozzarella with a roasted red pepper spread.  Both were very good but the mozzarella was on sale so that inspired me to make an impulse decision on my next meal, which normally the only time I do that is when J vetoes my plan and so I end up making tacos.

2 lbs ground turkey, 99/1
2 cups sliced mushrooms
1 yellow onion, diced
4 cloves garlic
1 tsp olive oil
3 cans diced tomatoes with basil, garlic, and oregano, pureed
1 ½ cups parmesan cheese, divided
8 oz mozzarella cheese
15 oz ricotta cheese, fat free
2 eggs
1 tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
2 tsp oregano
¾ tsp garlic powder
12 sheets No-Boil Lasagna noodles

Preheat oven to 375 degrees
In a large skillet heat the olive oil to medium-high heat.  Add the onion and cook until softened and transparent.  Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute more.  Add the mushrooms and cook until browned, stirring often.  Once mushrooms are browned add the turkey and add some of the seasoning and cook until no longer pink.  Add the tomato sauce and rest of the seasoning, season to taste if needed.
In another bowl mix the ricotta cheese, eggs, and ¾ cup parmesan cheese.

In a baking dish spoon some of the sauce on the bottom just to coat the dish so the pasta won’t stick.  Layer 4 sheets of pasta followed by the ricotta mixture then sauce.  Repeat 2 more times using up all of the ricotta and sauce.  Top with the rest of the parmesan cheese and slices of mozzarella.  Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes.  Remove the foil and bake for another 15 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly.  Let rest for 5 minutes before serving because it will be hot.

I usually put a large cookie sheet or a piece of foil on the wrack below the dish because sometimes my baking dish is so full some sauce will bubble over and it’s a lot easier to clean a cookie sheet or throw away a piece of foil than it is to scrub the bottom of the oven.

Serves 8

With all this cheese this is very rich and satisfying, especially if you use fresh mozzarella, but I guarantee you will be surprised by the amount of calories.

550 calories, 16 g fat

The gooey fresh mozzarella on top of this to me is perfect and you don’t have to sacrifice on the size of your piece to get a reasonable amount of calories.  You can serve yourself a nice large piece of lasagna without feeling awful about it.  What helps is making smart choices in the things that don’t matter.  By using fat free ricotta you save 30 calories/serving without losing any flavor, and by using 99/1 turkey you save a whole 120 calories/serving and you definitely don’t need fat from meat in a lasagna, that definitely will not add anything to the meal.

The star ingredient in this to me is the mozzarella, go with a good quality fresh mozzarella and it will make all the difference in the world versus the pre-shredded fat free Kraft that tastes more like plastic than cheese.
I also use the No-Boil lasagna noodles because I have tried fresh pasta in this and you cannot taste the difference at all, there is just too much other stuff going on so don’t waste your time.