I realize lasagna and healthy eating hardly fit in the same sentence but — There are numerous ways to make great tasting lasagna that can fit into just about any meal plan with lower fat cheese, lean meats, nutritious vegetables and unique sauces.
The problem, (I guess it’s how you look at it), with lasagna is that it is often overloaded with so much cheese and fatty meat that you’re almost drinking pools of grease with every bite. An all-time winter comfort food, lasagna has so many things going for it. Not only can it feed a crowd, it can be made ahead of time, frozen or reheated.
In doing one of my favorite things which I call ‘recipe development’, I’ve tried to come up with a lasagna that could check all the boxes of ‘healthy’ ingredients. By using lean turkey or chicken, fresh mushrooms and spinach you add flavor, protein and fiber as well as cutting calories and fat. It may seem a tiny bit drier but the flavor is great!
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- 12 whole-wheat lasagna noodles
- 567 grams (1 1/4 lbs) chicken or turkey, ground
- 170 grams fresh mushrooms, finely chopped
- 56 grams onion,chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 85 grams fresh spinach, finely chopped
- 1/2 tsp EACH basil, oregano & thyme
- 2 tsp salt
- 700 ml Italian Sausage Pasta Sauce
- 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
- 500 ml LIGHT creamed cottage cheese
- 2 large eggs
- 200 grams LIGHT Nacho cheese blend, shredded
Ingredients
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- Boil lasagna noodles 12-14 minutes in salted water with a few drops of oil. Drain.
- In a large skillet, cook chicken, mushrooms,onion & garlic for 5 minutes. Add spinach, basil, oregano, thyme & pasta sauce; cook another 2 minutes or until thickened. Remove from heat, stir in salt, pepper & all but 1 Tbsp parmesan cheese. In a bowl, combine eggs & cottage cheese; blend well.
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Assemble ingredients in a 9 x 13-inch baking pan as follows: Place a small amount of meat sauce on bottom, layer with 4 noodles, 1/3 of meat sauce, half of the cottage cheese, handful of Nacho cheese, 4 more noodles, another 1/3 meat sauce, remaining half of cottage cheese, last 4 noodles, last 1/3 of meat sauce, top with the rest of Nacho cheese & sprinkle with 1 Tbsp parmesan cheese. Done!!
- Bake, covered for 50 minutes; uncover & bake another 10 minutes. Allow to stand 10 minutes before serving.
