Source: Self, by way of Epicurious

Ready in 1 Hour

Makes 8 Servings

Ingredients
Vegetable-oil cooking spray
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 lb ground turkey breast
3 cups tomato sauce
3 tsp Italian seasoning (or 1 tsp each dried basil, parsley, and oregano)
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 cup chopped mushrooms
6 cups chopped fresh spinach (or chard)
2 cups fat-free ricotta
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 package whole-wheat lasagna noodles(about 8 oz, or 9 noodles)
2 cups (8 oz) shredded part-skim mozzarella

Preparation
Preheat oven to 375°F. Spray a medium-sized nonstick skillet with cooking spray. Sauté onion for 2 minutes, then add turkey and cook an additional 5 to 7 minutes. Add tomato sauce, all seasonings and mushrooms and simmer 2 minutes. Remove pan from heat. In a bowl, combine spinach, ricotta, and nutmeg. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Cook pasta according to package directions until al dente. Drain and rinse with cool water. Coat a 9″ x 13″ baking pan with cooking spray. Arrange 1/3 lasagna noodles (3 noodles) on the bottom of the pan. Spread a layer of ricotta mixture, then turkey mixture, then 1/3 mozzarella. Repeat layers, ending with mozzarella. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until cheese bubbles. Cool at least 5 minutes before cutting.

Nutritional Information
Nutritional analysis per serving: 310 calories, 6 g fat (3.5 g saturated fat), 31 g carbohydrates, 33 g protein, 4 g fiber

__________________________________________________________________________________________

First: The prep time and servings? CRAP. 

In all fairness, though, my obscenely-longer-than-one-hour prep/cook time could be due to the fact that this was my first lasagna. I didn’t quite know the timing or staging of it, so I took a little longer, I’m sure.

And I don’t know how an entire tray of lasagna is only 8 servings, but I’m pretty sure I’ll be eating this stuff till the end of time.

Second: My changes.

I used olive oil. I’m sorry, but things just don’t seem to saute as nicely in cooking spray as they do in olive oil. But I only used a little bit.

I added red bell peppers, because I love them, and use them in EVERYTHING. Instead of dicing them, though, I sliced them very, very thin, and then cut them in half length wise. I put them in the pan first, to let them soften the most.

I used a whole red onion, because I love the way red onions taste in red sauce. I added them to the already-softened peppers, and let them cook for a bit, too. I hate crunchy onions in anything baked.

I added three cloves of garlic, which I chopped, then smushed into a paste. 

Neither of the grocery stores I visited when shopping for this meal had ground turkey breast, so I just used ground turkey. When I added that to my peppers/onions/garlic, I added a generous amount of crushed red pepper, dried oregano, basil, parsley, salt and pepper. I let that cook and prepared my spinach.

I was too cheap to buy fresh spinach, as the recipe told me to, so I went with frozen. I had 6 cups of frozen spinach, which is probably too much…When you consider that six cups of fresh spinach amounts to probably 3 cups once it’s cooked down…IF THAT. So it was a little much, but I was fine with that, even knew it going in, because I’d rather fill up a dish with spinach than fatty cheese.

I used an entire 15 oz. container of part-skim ricotta. I added the nutmeg, but because I used so much more spinach, I added a little more. That was a mistake. All I could taste was nutmeg. Next time, I’d either stick with the quarter teaspoon, or leave it out altogether. But this is where the too much spinach comes into play, because the ricotta/spinach mixture wasn’t smooth. It wasn’t lumpy or anything, it just wasn’t creamy.

Back to the stove: I used a whole 28oz can of tomato sauce – just the plain, canned version. Then I added the entire 8oz package of mushrooms I chopped up. I added another round of spices (all of the ones I added to the meat…Because it’s turkey, I overseason. Trust me, that’s the only way to go.) I let that simmer and thicken, and then threw in the remainder (about a tbsp?) of a can of tomato paste I had in the fridge. This is another thing I would’ve done different. I wouldn’t use the sauce, I’d use crushed/diced/stewed tomatoes, or a marinara sauce. OR, I’d just add a whole can of tomato paste. I LOVE thick, gooey tomato sauce in a lasagna, and this was not that. Even after I let it simmer for an obscene amount of time.

As for the noodles, I used whole wheat. And because whole wheat pasta tends to go VERY QUICKLY from al dente to smushy, I cooked them (in boiling water hit with a dash of olive oli AND a good amount of salt) for a scant five minutes – just until they folded over and started to soften – and then took them out and laid them flat on baking sheets.

This is what got me: The effing assembly. I don’t know who ever said lasagna was easy, but they LIED. Spreading the spinach/ricotta mix on the noodles was damn near impossible, and it was frustrating. Because my spatula/rubber scraper wasn’t doing the job, I was reduced to using my fingers, which resulted in multiple hand washings an a lot of frustration.

The sauce tasted good, but was kind of thin as I ladled it on. I decided against using regular mozzarella in the dish and went for the 2% five-cheese Italian Blend of shredded cheese by Kraft. It’s delicious. So I did my layering, and didn’t leave enough sauce OR spinach/ricotta for the top layer. Whoops. No big deal. I just added more cheese.

On the top layer, I used what little was left of the 5-cheese, and added more part-skim mozzarella.

I put my pan on a baking sheet and covered it with foil, and cooked it for 19 minutes. At that point, I removed the foil and let it cook for another 6. When I noticed that my cheese wasn’t gloriously brown and bubbly, I turned on the broiler for a few minutes. It did the job.

Third: The consensus.

My boyfriend LOVED IT. Loved, loved, loved it. Even went so far as to say that it was one of his favorite lasagnas ever. I didn’t share his opinion. I felt like all I could taste was nutmeg, and it didn’t have enough tomato OR meat flavor.

However, I just had my leftovers for lunch. And they were fantastic. I’d still make all of the changes I intended to make, though, because I’m sure they’d all add up to be that much better the second day.