(Healthy) Lasagna
- 1 box (16 Oz. Box) Dry Lasagna Noodles
- 1- 1/2 pound Turkey Italian Sausage
- 1 pound Pork Italian Sausage
- 15 ounces, weight Low Fat Ricotta Cheese
- 24 ounces, weight Low Fat Cottage Cheese
- 2 cups Shredded Mozzarella Cheese (NOT Low-fat)
- 2 cans (Large 29 Oz. Can) Plain Tomato Sauce
- 2 whole Fresh Zucchini, Peeled And Chopped
- 1 whole Onion, Chopped
- 4 cloves Garlic, Minced
- 2 Tablespoons Dried Oregano, to taste
- 2 teaspoons Red Pepper Flakes, to taste
- 1 teaspoon Salt To Taste
- 1 teaspoon Black Pepper To Taste
- Note: for step-by-step photos and attempts at humor, see the related blog post.
- First, we make the SAUCE.
- Peel and chop your zucchini.
- Chop up that onion.
- Mince up that garlic.
- Saute with a smidgeon of olive oil and some salt and pepper until the zucchini is tender and the onions are soft and kinda see-through.
- Drop your sauteed veggies into a blender or food processor and whir away till youve got a mostly-fine puree.
- Crack open your cans of tomato sauce and pour them into a pot.
- I like to saute my veggies in the same pot Im gonna cook the sauce in, just to save on dish-washing.
- Add your zucchini puree.
- Stir together, and love how it all just turns bright red.
- Add oregano, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper till it tastes wonderful.
- Set the sauce aside to simmer.
- On to the OTHER BITS.
- Split the sausage casings for both turkey and pork.
- Drop the meat in a pan with a bit of olive oil (not much) and brown it up over medium-high heat.
- Be sure to cook thoroughly, because undercooked poultry and pork is no joke.
- Boil up a big pot of very salty water.
- Once its boiling happily, add your dry lasagna noodles.
- Cook until theyre not quite done and still a little too firm (theyll finish in the oven).
- Mix the ricotta and about 3/4 of the cottage cheese together in a bowl.
- Add salt, pepper, maybe a bit of oregano.
- Add or subtract cottage cheese according to your preference for the consistency of your cheese filling.
- For the ASSEMBLY:
- Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
- Grab a 9x13 pan and start layering in your ingredients.
- The layers should go into the pan in the following order:
- Sauce Noodles (overlapping and covering the entire pan) Cheese Sausage Sauce Noodles Cheese Sausage Sauce Noodles Etc.
- Keep going till you get almost to the top of your pan.
- For the last layer, finish up with noodles.
- Then cover the last layer of noodles entirely with sauce so they dont dry out in the oven.
- Then cover the whole thing with all of the full-of-fat mozzarella cheese.
- Bake at 375 degrees for at least 30 minutes, till its all melty and bubbly.
- Then pull it out of the oven and let it rest for at least 15 minutes.
- Dont worry!
- It will not get cold.
- Itll set up for easier slicing.
- Cut into squares, serve, devour!
lasagna noodles, sausage, sausage, ricotta cheese, cheese, mozzarella cheese, tomato sauce, fresh zucchini, onion, garlic, oregano, red pepper, salt, black pepper
Taken from tastykitchen.com/recipes/main-courses/healthy-lasagna/ (may not work)