Turkey Lasagna

There are no photos of this lasagna because...we ate it all

The best part about this recipe is you don't have to cook the lasagna noodles ahead of time. This works with regular lasagna noodles and whole wheat. Because you bake it covered to begin with, the steam cooks the noodles as the lasagna bakes. One less, task, one less mess!

Ingredients:
2 TB Olive Oil
1 C chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 ½ lbs ground turkey (organic)
1 28-ounce can organic crushed tomatoes (reserve 2 TB for bottom of pan)
1 6-ounce can organic tomato paste
1 C fresh, organic baby spinach leaves (spinach is optional)
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 TB dried ground Basil
2 tsp dried Oregano
1 box lasagna noodles (no need to pre-cook!)
15 ounces organic cottage cheese (do not use low fat)
1 ½ C grated or shredded (whatever you have) parmesan cheese
1 egg, lightly beaten
16 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese


Heat oil in large skillet, add the onion and cook for ~5 minutes on medium-low heat until translucent. Add the ground turkey, breaking it up with a fork. After about 4 minutes, add the garlic.

note: I like to add the garlic here b/c it can easily burn if you add it earlier and burnt garlic ruins the whole dish.

Add ¾ tsp salt, ½ tsp pepper. Continue cooking turkey, onions, garlic for another 4 minutes until the turkey is no longer pink. Add more oil if necessary to prevent from burning. If you use turkey breast, you will definitely need to add more oil. If using ground turkey with both white and dark meat, you may be fine as is.

Once the turkey is no longer pink, add the crushed tomatoes (remember to reserve ~2 TB for later use), tomato paste, Basil, and Oregano. Simmer, uncovered on medium-low heat for about 15-20 minutes, until thickened. Taste and season accordingly.

In a bowl, combine the cottage cheese, 1C parmesan cheese, egg, ½ tsp salt, ¼ tsp ground pepper. Set aside.

Spread the 2 TB reserved crushed tomatoes in bottom of 9x13 baking dish. Don’t worry if thin, you just need a little liquid at the bottom. If you forgot to reserve the tomatoes, just splash some olive oil around the bottom. No biggie.

No we build our lasagna. Line pan with half the pasta, ½ the mozzarella, then ½ the cottage cheese mixture, ½ C spinach leaves, and top with 1/2 sauce. Go again; pasta, mozzarella, cottage cheese mixture, spinach leaves, and rest of sauce. Top with ½ C Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top.

Cover with aluminum foil Bake 400˚ for 30-40 minutes or until bubbly and noodles fork soft. Remove aluminum foil and recycle it. Put lasagna back in oven for ~5 minutes to let the cheese on top brown. Let rest 5 minutes before slicing. Serves 6-8.