I was pleasantly surprised with my first lasagna effort. It was always one of those dishes that seemed too involved to make at home. Also, I tend to shy away from anything that calls for bechamel sauce. But for some reason I was inspired to make lasagna and a moderately healthy one with turkey and no bechamel. Sorry, all you purists. Well, it was a hit with both my husband and brother-in-law having thirds! They're both Italian American and are opinionated about anything Italian. As I'm typing this John is telling me how much he likes it :) Even Molly who already had dinner, asked for some! The recipe is an adaptation of one by the Barefoot Contessa. I'm really surprised that the consistency and proportions came out perfectly. Sorry I don't have a shot of the cross section. I was too hungry!1 box no boil lasagna noodles
olive oil
2 cloves garlic minced
1 small onion chopped
1 1/2 lb ground turkey
1 28oz can of crushed tomatoes in puree
2 tablespoon tomato paste
fresh oregano, thyme, basil
salt, pepper to taste
1 tub ricotta (15 oz i think)
1 cup parmigiano reggiano and some for sprinkling on top
1 egg
shredded mozzarella (1 bag) or use fresh if you have
-brown turkey then break into small pieces
-once meat is sizzling again, add garlic and onion, cook until o&g is soft
-add crushed tomatoes bring to a medium simmer for 10 mins
-add tomato paste and herbs, simmer another 10 mins
-add salt and pepper to taste and simmer until sauce is thickened
-soak noodles in hottest tap water for 20 mins and drain (add noodles one at a time and move them around once in a while so they don't stick together)
-mix ricotta, parmigiano, egg, pinch salt and pepper
-layer in following order, just eye the amounts
- sauce
- noodle 1 ply
- ricotta mix
- mozzarella
- sauce
- noodle 1 ply
- ricotta mix
- mozzarella
- noodle 1 ply
- sauce
- parmigiano
I used a 8 X 6 X 2 le creuset pan and it came out nice and crusty!!
