Turkey-Spinach Lasagna

There are many versions of turkey-spinach lasagna floating around, but this is the one that found its way into my recipe binder. I printed this recipe a few years ago from the Cooking Light website MyRecipes.com and last night was the second time I've made the dish. Our friends Jamie and Dave were coming over for dinner and I wanted something warm and comforting for a cold November night. Plus Jamie and Dave are both fans of turkey and spinach, so I knew this would be perfect. I made a few changes to the original recipe. I used fat free ricotta in place of the cottage cheese because, while I love cottage cheese on its own I find it strange in pasta dishes. I also added some more spices - red pepper flakes to the turkey as it browned and garlic powder and oregano to the cheese and spinach mixture. I used no-boil lasagna noodles and they were perfect. The lasagna came out perfectly set, creamy and delicious. A great comfort food meal!

Turkey-Spinach Lasagna

Cooking spray
1 pound ground turkey breast
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 (26-ounce) jars low-fat marinara sauce
1 (16-ounce) carton fat-free ricotta
1/4 cup egg substitute
1/4 cup (1 ounce) preshredded fresh Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon oregano
1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
8 cooked lasagna noodles
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 350°.
Coat a large skillet with cooking spray, and place over medium-high heat until hot. Add turkey, onion,red pepper flakes and garlic; cook until meat is browned, stirring to crumble. Add 5 3/4 cups marinara sauce; cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat.
Combine ricotta cheese, egg substitute, Parmesan, parsley, pepper, garlic powder, oregano and spinach; stir well. Spread remaining marinara sauce in bottom of a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Arrange 4 noodles over marinara; top with cottage cheese mixture and half of the mozzarella.


Spoon half of the turkey mixture over the mozzarella. Arrange the remaining noodles over turkey mixture. Top with remaining turkey mixture and mozzarella.
Bake at 350° for 50 minutes or until cheese melts and sauce is bubbly. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.