Healthy Lasagna
Healthy Lasagna
Not sure what to make for your family or holiday dinner? This lasagna recipe will be the answer! Also, a great way to get your family to eat their veggies. Full of cheese, meats and YUM! Can be prepared vegetarian or gluten free too… Perfect for larger gatherings! Depending on your size family, you can have leftovers or freeze it for later too.
Healthy Vegetable Lasagna
Yield 10 - 12 servings (Can cut in half for ~ 6 servings)
Ingredients:
Sauce:
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large yellow onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 medium carrots, washed
1 medium zucchini, cubed
1 - 28 ounce can of crushed tomatoes (I used homemade frozen sauce in mine)
1 - 6 ounce can tomato paste
1/2 cup red wine
1/2 cup water
4 - 5 large fresh basil leaves (~ 3 tablespoons), chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
**If adding meat:
1 pound ground turkey
1/2 pound or 3 links Italian turkey sausage
** Occasionally, I add ground lamb or ground veal too!!
Additional ingredients:
1 - 15 ounce carton part skim ricotta cheese
1/2 cup 1% low fat cottage cheese
1 package no boil lasagna noodles (I use Barilla or regular lasagna noodles. Gluten free will work too)
3 cups part skim milk mozzarella cheese or Italian cheese mixture of choice
**8 ounce can tomato sauce... just in case
Equipment:
Chef knife
Cutting board
Paring knife
Food processor or grater (blender also works well for blending ricotta cheese)
Rubber spatula
Liquid measuring cup
Measuring spoons
Large 2 1/2 - 3 quart saucepan or pot
13" X 9" baking pan
Aluminum foil
Often lasagna is thought of as a difficult recipe and loaded with fat, which can be the case. Using only vegetables and cheese can dramatically reduce the fat and calories. I have a garden every summer and usually have a bounty of fresh tomatoes, zucchini, herbs, to name a few. I make my own sauce as well, so there are very few preservatives in my food. Unfortunately I have meat lovers in my family, so I sometimes add ground turkey, or chicken Italian sausage instead of beef. The ground turkey I used contained only 15% fat compared to average ground beef that can contain 30% fat. Regular Italian sausage made with pork and can contain as much as 50% fat, where turkey sausage has 9% fat, with a lot less saturated fat as well. Often I use a little ground veal and lamb. The flavor is fantastic too!
This recipe takes only about a hour to prepare. So make it an afternoon or evening before you need it, wrap it, refrigerate it ... and all you have to do is bake it! Also, by using the no boil noodle method, you really save on time and mess too.
I always assemble all my ingredients before I start any recipe. This saves on time as you are not running all over the kitchen looking for stuff. Preparation is much smoother as well. The zucchini pictured is actually from my garden ... the last one about the size of a child's baseball bat. If you have never grown zucchini, you must watch them daily as if you forget they will grow huge! I have actually had a few the size of a softball bat... no kidding! They might be a bit seedy, but I still use them for breads and this dish especially.
Vegetables add nutrients, color and moisture to the final product. I use primarily zucchini and carrots, but have used yellow squash, spinach or kale as well. What ever you like or have on hand, throw it in! I use my large Cuisinart food processor for this step, as it is efficient and quick. If you don't have a food processor a wide base blender will work too. I also have used a grater before I owned my Cuisinart, which just takes a bit more time. I only wash my veggies well, using a small brush to loosen dirt. Peeling for this recipe is not necessary as it will be finely chopped. Who wants to lose all those precious nutrients found right under the skin anyway? Add the zucchini, carrots, onions, garlic and whatever vegetables you choose and pulse until uniformly chopped, about 1 minute. Set these aside.
If using meat, the next steps will be followed. If not, skip down to next section. Usually not a lot of prep is needed unless you are using sausage links. The skins need to be removed as they will not brown and will become rubbery in the cooking process. Using a small paring knife carefully slice thru the skin from top to bottom. Meat should be easily removed and discarded. Pour olive oil in bottom of a saucepan or pot. There is a difference between a saucepan and a pot. A saucepan has one handle and a pot has two... a small, but important difference. Allow oil to heat for ~ 2 minutes over medium high heat. Add meat and cook, while stirring until no longer pink.
If you are not using meat, the olive oil is poured in the base of the saucepan and sauté vegetables until bright colored and softened. Using meat... add vegetables to meat mixture and saute the same as if cooked alone. Tomato sauce, wine and tomato paste are added and stirred to combine well. Simmer low for about 10 minutes while you prep your ricotta. At this point the sauce should be aromatic and slightly thick. Taste to check for additional salt or pepper needed. If additional salt is needed, add by 1/4 teaspoon increments until desired flavor is achieved.
I love to use fresh basil just for the smell! I have a close friend, Darren, that goes crazy over the smell of fresh basil... even wishes his wife would use it as cologne. Might be dangerous... if you know what I mean?
The photos above illustrate an easy way to chop basil. Depending on the size piece you want you vary the chopping technique. First lay 4 - 5 basil leaves flat on top of each other and roll into a tube. Using a chef knife, slice thinly across tube. Strips can be used this way for some dishes requiring larger pieces, but for this dish you want them chopped. Using your chef knife, rock 'n chop over basil ribbons until you achieve even small pieces as shown above.
As I was cooking this dish today, I was listening to Amazon Prime Music 80's Rock songs! What a blast from the past! Simply Irresistible, Born in the U.S.A., Dire Straits, The Cars... I was in heaven! Cooking and dancing in the kitchen with the smell of basil, garlic and tomato! You should have been there... Ha! Nothing like cooking with great tunes... So add your basil and get this party going!!
Now for the cheese prep! Again, if you have a food processor from before, clean it and get ready to spin your ricotta. If you have a blender ... use that. Otherwise, you can chop greens fine and mix by hand with a fork in a medium bowl. It all works... people powered or technology get you where you need to go... just slower. Add the egg, ricotta, minced garlic, Italian parsley, fresh basil and pulse until smooth. Place your mozarella in a bowl for easier access during the assembly process... you are ready to go!
You are ready for assembly! Line up your ingredients sauce, ricotta, pan, cheese and pasta in a row. Organizing like this will improve efficiency in the assembly process. I know it seems like more work, but believe me it helps! If you can't find no bake lasagna noodles, I have used regular lasagna noodles and increase either wine or water by 1/2 cup, to add more moisture to sauce for the noodles to absorb.
First spread about 2 Tablespoons of olive oil on bottom and sides of 13" X 9" pan. Then spread about 1/2 -3/4 cups of sauce on bottom of pan. Place pasta sheets to cover pan surface. You may need to break sheets in half ... kind of like making a puzzle. Spoon ricotta mixture over pasta surface and then spread to evenly coat. Sprinkle 1 cup cheese over ricotta layer. Now ladle sauce on top of cheese, using about 2 cups of sauce to evenly coat. Lay another layer of pasta and repeat process for second layer.
After that second layer your lasagna should look like above with sauce on top. Place another layer of pasta sheets on top of sauce and then remaining sauce on top of this. (I sometimes get a bit zealous with the sauce and wind up having to add an extra 8 ounce can of tomato sauce to coat the top) If I gage it right! Like I have said, Cooking is a science... and we often have to estimate which sometimes means improvise.
Voila!! Sprinkle remaining cup of cheese on top (sometimes I cheat and add more) and you have a magnificent pan of goodness, sure to please! Now place a sheet of aluminum foil on top and crimp the edges and allow to rest for at least an hour or over night. Assembled pan can keep refrigerated for 2 - 3 days. Prior to cooking, PREHEAT oven to 350 - 375 F and allow pan of lasagna to warm a bit before baking. Lasagna will bake at least and hour covered, then carefully remove foil and bake an additional 15 - 20 minutes or until browned and bubbly. (If pan is very full I often set it on a sheet pan to catch the drips and save my oven from disaster)
Dinner is ready!! Your kitchen smells amazing and you can actually relax while the party is gathering! Salad and bread can be prepared while your lasagna is baking too. I wrap sliced Italian bread in foil and place it in the oven with the lasagna for the last 10 minutes. Serve bread with a choice of olive oil or garlic butter and parmesan cheese for garnish. A healthy salad on the side of course... Enjoy!!