A Healthy lasagna
I really love lasagna, but it can be pretty full of calories. I use this recipe to create a lower calorie lasagna without all that guilt. Ground beef is pretty fattening, even if it is extra lean. Notice when you cook it there is plenty of grease left over.
Here is the recipe I came up with, but you can alter it to your taste. The great thing about cooking anything is that you can modify any recipe to your own personal specifications.
For one full pan of lasagna:
2 packages of ground turkey
2 cloves fresh garlic (crushed)
One medium onion
2 celery stalks
1 large can of pasta sauce (your favorite)
2 cans of diced tomatoes
1 cup salsa sauce
2 tablespoons italian seasoning
1 cup 1% cottage cheese
fresh basil
2 eggs
low fat mozzerella
12 lasagna noodles (whole wheat)
Brown your meat in a saucepan with the onion and celery and some garlic until it is completely cooked. In a larger pot, add the browned turkey meat, pasta sauce, tomatoes, salsa and italian seasoning. Allow this to simmer on the stove top for about an hour to blend the flavors. In the meantime, cook your lasagna noodles about 1/2 way (not fully, just until soft.)
Once your noodles are half cooked, drain them and fill the pot with cold water to stop the noodles from sticking together.
In a medium bowl, mix the cottage cheese with the eggs, salt and pepper and add some chopped fresh basil. Mix thoroughly.
In your lasagna pan, scoop some of the liquid from your sauce and line the bottom of the pan. Add your first layer of noodles (3 across), then spoon some sauce on top. Sprinkle some cheese (not a lot) over the sauce, then add another layer of noodles. Spoon the cottage cheese mixture over the next layer of noodles, and another light layer of cheese.
Add the next row of noodles, more sauce, more cheese, then the last layer of noodles. Cover the top of the noodles with the remaining cheese. Cover the pan with foil and bake your lasagna at 350 for 35 minutes. In the last five minutes of baking, carefully remove the foil to brown the top of your masterpiece.
Allow the lasagna to sit on top of your over for about 20 minutes before you attempt to slice it up.
Serve with garlic bread and caesar salad.