Healthy Whole Wheat Spinach and Ricotta Lasagna

Healthy Whole Wheat Spinach and Ricotta Lasagna

Lasagna seems to always make me homesick, perhaps because my mom makes the best homemade lasagna! Since I won’t be home for another couple of months I decided to make a big pan of it myself! I used whole wheat noodles, ricotta, spinach, and ground turkey to make a healthy version so I could enjoy it guilt free!

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Ingredients:

1-2 Tbs olive oil

1 fifteen ounce can of tomato sauce

1 six ounce can of tomato paste

½ Tbs Italian seasoning

1 tsp garlic powder

½ tsp crushed red pepper

¼ tsp cayenne pepper

1 vine ripe tomato, chopped into small pieces

2 garlic cloves, minced

1lb ground turkey (I had some from a large package that was previously divided and frozen)

½ Tbs Italian seasoning

1 tsp garlic powder

½ tsp crushed red pepper

¼ cup red onion, finely chopped

10-16 whole grain lasagna noodles, cooked until al dente (the amount just depends on how you layer them)

2 eggs, lightly beaten

Salt and pepper to taste

2 cups of ricotta cheese

2 cups of fresh spinach, roughly chopped

1 cup of grated parmesan cheese

½ cup mozzarella or parmesan to sprinkle on top (I used ¼ cup parmesan and ¼ cup shredded mozzarella)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and line a baking sheet with foil.

(1.) Drizzle olive oil over foil, add chopped tomatoes and minced garlic. Season with salt and pepper and place in the oven to roast for 15-20 minutes. While waiting on tomatoes, prepare the rest of the sauce.

(2.) In a medium sized sauce pan, stir together tomato sauce, tomato paste, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, crushed red pepper, and cayenne pepper. Heat on low.

(3.) In a large skillet over low-medium heat, cook ground turkey for 5-7 minutes and then add chopped onion. Cook for a few more minutes or until turkey is no longer pink. Stir in Italian seasoning, garlic powder, and crushed red pepper. (4.) Reduce heat to low and add oven roasted tomatoes and garlic. (5.) Stir in tomato sauce until all ingredients are mixed. Continue to heat on low, stirring occasionally while you put together other ingredients.

(6.) Cook lasagna noodles until al dente. Lay noodles on paper towels to dry.

Rub a large baking dish (approximately 15×10” and at least 2 inches deep) with olive oil and preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

(7.) In a medium sized bowl, lightly beat eggs and season with salt and pepper. (8.) Add ricotta, chopped spinach, and parmesan cheese. Stir until all ingredients are well mixed.

(9.) Place a layer of lasagna noodles in the bottom of the prepared baking dish. You can slightly overlap the edges of the noodles if you’re using a smaller pan. (10.) Spread a layer of the cheese mixture (11.) and then the sauce. Add another layer of noodles, then cheese, and sauce again. (12.) Top with parmesan and/or mozzarella and place in the oven.