Foodie Friday: Rich & Creamy Turkey Lasagna Recipe using RedPack Crushed Tomatoes

Over the weekend, I figured I didn’t want to cook too much during the
week, therefore, I needed something that could hold us over for a good part of
the week.  Boom! Lasagna pops right into my head.  We had a majority
of the ingredients anyway, so why not?

I’ve never been into lasagna; however, my sister, the 71ateChef made a
bangin’ lasagna one day, and I’ve been a lasagna lover ever since, but only hers.:lol:.
 Plus, my husband looooves lasagna,
so I had to learn how to make it eventually, and I did.

This time, I decided to make the turkey lasagna little differently after coming
across a recipe by
Giada De Laurentiis that included béchamel in the sauce.  Yum-o! Béchamel
is what love tastes like. Seriously! 

According to my husband, and the 71ateChef, this turkey lasagna was a winner! I’ll definitely make it again.  Of course I tweaked Giada’s recipe to my liking, and here it is below.

Ingredients

Salt and
white pepper
1/4
cup extra-virgin olive oil
1
pound ground turkey meat (we use 97% lean)
Salt
and pepper
1 1/2
pounds ricotta cheese
3
large eggs

Fresh
Basil
1
pound lasagna sheets, cooked al dente
½ bag
of Fresh Baby Spinach
3 cups
shredded mozzarella
1/4
cup freshly grated Parmesan

Béchamel Ingredients

5
tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2
cup all-purpose flour
4 cups
2% milk at room temperature
Pinch
freshly grated nutmeg

Chopped onions, garlic, celery, and carrots

2 (32-ounce) cans crushed tomatoes
2 dried bay leaves
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, optional

Cook lasagna noodles according to the instructions on the box, drain,
and set aside.  Of course, you can use no
bake lasagna noodles, but, I didn’t have any.

Ricotta Cheese Mixture

First, I started off making the ricotta cheese mixture, and set it
aside in the fridge until I was ready for it. 
This mixture included three eggs, ½ cup of Parmesan cheese, salt,
pepper, and fresh chopped basil.  Mix it
together, and then set it aside in the fridge.

Tomato Sauce

Next up, I made the Tomato sauce from scratch using a can of RedPack
Crushed Tomatoes.  This was really
simple!

1. First, heat the olive oil over medium high heat with the bay leaf.2. Add the onion and garlic, and then sauté until soft and translucent
(about 5 to 10 minutes). 

3. Add the celery and carrots, and season with a little salt and pepper,
and Italian seasoning, sauté until the veggies are soft (about 5 to 10
minutes).

4. Add the two cans of crushed tomatoes, and simmer uncovered on low heat
for 1 hour (or until thick).

5. Remove bay leaves, and check to see if the sauce needs any additional
seasoning.

6. Gradually add butter to reduce acidity.

7. Add sauce to Vitamix or food processor, and blend until smooth. You
may want to do this in batches.

***Since we’re not using all of the
sauce, keep 1 ½ cups for the lasagna, and save the remaining sauce for later.***

Ground Turkey

1. Now, we’re going to brown the ground turkey meat by heating up about
one to two tablespoons of olive oil until it’s almost smoking. 

2. Add the ground turkey, and season with salt and pepper (to your
liking). 

3. Brown the meat, and use a spatula to break apart any large lumps.  Make sure your meat isn’t pink.  We like brown meat over here .:wink, wink:.

4. Remove from heat and set aside for later.

***At this time, you may want to preheat
your oven to 375 degrees.***

It’s béchamel time!

Béchamel needs lots of love and attention when you’re making it, otherwise, it
will stick to the bottom of the pan and/or lump up, which you don’t want;
therefore, I saved making that for last.

 1. In a
2-quart pot, melt 5 tablespoons of butter over medium heat.

2. When
butter has completely melted, add the flour and whisk until smooth, about 2
minutes. 

3. Gradually add the milk, whisking constantly to prevent any lumps from
forming.

4. Continue
to simmer and whisk over medium heat until the sauce is thick, smooth and
creamy (about 10 minutes).

5. The sauce
should be thick enough to coat the back of wooden spoon.

6. Remove
from heat and add the nutmeg and tomato sauce.

7. Stir until
well combined and check for seasoning (I added salt and pepper).

8. Set aside
and allow to cool completely.

Setting up the lasagna

1. Into the bottom of a 13 by 9-inch baking dish, spread 1/3 of the béchamel
sauce.

2. Arrange the pasta sheets side by side, covering the bottom of the
baking dish.

3. Evenly spread a layer of all the ricotta mixture and then a layer of
all the spinach.

4. Arrange another layer of pasta sheets and spread all the ground turkey on top.

5. Sprinkle 1/2 the mozzarella cheese on top of the ground turkey. Spread another
1/3 of the béchamel sauce.

6. Arrange the final layer of pasta sheets and top with remaining béchamel,
mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses.

7. Line a large baking sheet with aluminum foil.

8. Place turkey lasagna dish on top, cover and put on the middle rack of the
oven and bake until top is bubbling, about 30 minutes.

9. Remove cover and continue to bake the turkey lasagna for about 15 minutes.