Raving Lasagna

Everyone loves lasagna. Let’s face it, its layers of meaty, cheesy, noodley awesomeness all in one great dish. What we don’t love about lasagna is that it takes FOREVER to make and there’s a million steps in making it. I always felt daunted by the task of making lasagna for this very reason, but after watching Down Home with the Neely’s on the Food Network, I decided to borrow their wisdom in their method to shorten the cooking time. My own twist in this particular recipe comes from adding the turkey meat (recipe originally calls for hamburger meat), adding basil and dried parsley, taking out their seasoning salt, and of course I had to add in some vegetables (BTW – spinach is also a great idea in the recipe below). I’ve made this dish on a couple occasions for friends and family and everyone raves about it. I promise…you’ll love it too.

Time from prep to Eating: 1 hour 15 minutes

What You Need:
9”x13” deep baking dish
Large sauté pan
Stock pot
Large bowl

The Stuff
1 pound ground turkey
1 medium white onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 small zucchini
1 package of sliced mushrooms
1 (14.5-ounce) can stewed tomatoes, chopped
1 (8-ounce) jar tomato sauce
1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste
1 (8-ounce) box lasagna noodles, cook as directed
2 eggs
2 cups cottage cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 tsp dried parsley leaves
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 (8-ounce) bag shredded mozzarella
1 (8-ounce) bag shredded Cheddar
Small bunch of fresh basil and parsley, hand torn

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and boil the lasagna noodles until just shy of al dente - they’ll continue to cook in the oven. In the large saute pan add the meat, onion and garlic until browned, breaking up the meat with a spoon. If needed, drain the pan of fat. Add the zucchini and mushrooms allowing them to cook for approximately 5 minutes, then add the stewed tomatoes, tomato sauce, and tomato paste. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes stirring occasionally.

In the large bowl whisk together the eggs, cottage cheese, Parmesan, parsley, salt, and pepper.

Spray the baking dish with any nonstick cooking spray. Spread one spoonful of the meat and veggie mixture into the bottom of the dish then layer half the noodles, overlapping by at least 1/2-inch. Spread half the cottage cheese mixture evenly on top and sprinkle half of the mozzarella and cheddar evenly. Pour half of the meat sauce on top. Repeat noodle, cottage cheese mixture, cheese, meat mixture layering. Bake in center of oven 35 minutes until bubbling around the edges. Let stand 10 minutes, sprinkle the basil and parsley just before serving.