I plucked this recipe out of Cooking Light magazine and made a few adjustments to suit our tastes and needs. The biggest adjustment was to make two 8x8 pans (one to eat now, one to freeze), rather than one 9x13 pan. Also, the recipe called for deli turkey breast and I just thought, "GROSS", so I substituted a pound of ground turkey. Frankly, I delighted with the results; I found the lasagna to be less "cheesy" than most lasagna, but still delicious because it was very flavorful. AND, the kids ate it and liked it. Even though it was my first time making lasagna EVER, it still only took 45 minutes to whip the two pans up. I made it the night before it was on our meal plan (it would take too long to make it, bake it and eat it on a school night). It was great to just be able to come home from work, stick it in the oven and just have to make crescent rolls and salad for the sides. Did I mention the kids actually ate it and liked it? BECAUSE THEY DID.
Sounds like a success in my book.
Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 chopped red onion (how thinly diced depends on how you like your onions)
1 chopped green bell pepper
1 (8-ounce) package presliced mushrooms (I did not include these, as I do not like mushrooms!)
1 garlic clove, minced (I used a couple of tablespoons of diced garlic - we buy in bulk)
1 pound ground turkey
1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
1 (26-ounce) bottle tomato-basil pasta sauce (such as Bertoli)
1/4 cup (1 ounce) grated fresh Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 (16-ounce) carton fat-free cottage cheese
Cooking spray
12 cooked lasagna noodles (look for whole wheat to make it healthier)
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
Preparation
Preheat oven to 350°. Cook ground
turkey until cooked through. In another large skillet, heat oil in
medium-high heat; add onion, bell pepper, mushrooms (if desired), and
garlic. Sauté 5 minutes or until tender. Add turkey; cook 10 minutes,
stirring frequently. Stir in seasoning and sauce. Reduce heat to
medium; simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
At the same time, cook the lasagna noodles according to package directions. Set to cool/dry slightly on clean kitchen towels.
Combine parmesan, salt, black pepper, eggs, and cottage cheese in a medium bowl.
Spread 1/2 cup turkey mixture in the bottom of each of your
8x8 baking dishes coated with cooking spray. With typical lasagna
noodles, cut about a third off of two noodles. Use the two noodles you
cut AND their 1/3 sections that were removed to create the first layer
of lasagna noodles for one 8 x 8 pan (repeat with two more noodles for
your second pan). Then top the noodles of each pan with a quarter of a
cup of the parmesan mixture and 1 cup turkey mixture. Add a second
layer of noodles (perpendicular to the first set) to each pan, and
repeat the parmesan and turkey layer. Add one final layer of noodles,
and sprinkle with any remaining turkey mixture (you should have a
little bit left over. Repeat layers, ending with turkey mixture.
Sprinkle each pan with mozzarella. Bake at 350° for 45 minutes. Let
stand 15 minutes and then enjoy. We sure did.