Healthier Lasagnalasagne Recipes

HEALTHIER WORLD'S BEST LASAGNA

Steps:

• Heat a Dutch oven or large skillet over medium heat; cook and stir turkey sausage, ground turkey, onion, and garlic until well browned, about 15 minutes. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, and water. Season with basil, fennel seeds, Italian seasoning, pepper, and 2 tablespoons parsley. Simmer, uncovered, for about 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook lasagna in the boiling water, stirring occasionally until cooked through but firm to the bite, about 8 minutes. Drain.
• Spread 1 1/2 cups turkey sauce in bottom of 9x13 baking dish. Arrange 6 noodles lengthwise over sauce. Spread half the ricotta over noodles. Top with a third of the mozzarella cheese slices. Spoon 1 1/2 cups turkey sauce over mozzarella, and sprinkle with 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Repeat layers and top with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Cover with aluminum foil; make sure foil does not touch cheese to prevent sticking.
• Bake in preheated oven until sauce is hot and cheese is melted, about 25 minutes more. Remove foil and bake until cheese is golden brown, about 25 minutes. Cool 15 minutes before serving.

HEALTHIER MEAT LASAGNA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place noodles in an 8-by-8-inch baking dish, and cover with hot tap water; set aside to soften.
• In a 5-quart Dutch oven or heavy pot, heat oil over medium-high. Add onion, eggplant, and garlic; season with salt and pepper. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until eggplant is very tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Add sirloin, and cook, breaking up meat with a spoon, until no longer pink, 3 to 5 minutes. Add tomato puree, and cook until thickened, 3 to 5 minutes. Season meat sauce with salt and pepper.
• Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine cottage cheese and 1/4 cup Parmesan; season with salt and pepper. Remove noodles from baking dish, discarding water.
• Spread about 1/4 cup meat sauce in bottom of dish, and top with 4 noodle halves. Layer with 1/3 cheese mixture, then 1/3 sauce. Repeat twice with remaining noodles, cheese mixture, and sauce. Sprinkle with mozzarella and remaining 2 tablespoons Parmesan. Bake until lasagna is bubbling and cheese topping is golden, 30 to 35 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting and serving.

HEALTHIER LASAGNA/LASAGNE

Steps:

• Preheat your oven to 190C/375F/Gas 5.
• In a non stick frying pan, brown the meat for about 7 minutes. Season with salt.
• Drain any excess fat from the pan by placing the meat into a sieve, keep aside.
• In the same pan, fry the onion, garlic, celery, carrot and mushrooms in a little olive oil for about five minutes.
• Add the meat back to the pan and add the tomato paste and chopped tomatoes at the same time.
• Season using the oregano, basil and sugar. Add salt and black pepper to taste.
• Simmer for about 15 minutes.
• In the meantime add the spinach, zucchini, cottage cheese and egg whites together in a bowl. Using a hand blender of food processor, blitz the ingredients until you achieve a sauce.
• Spread 1/4 of the tomato sauce in the bottom of a large lasagne dish. Cover with three lasange sheets. Next add another layer, using another 1/4 of the tomato sauce and then cover with half the cottage cheese sauce. Place the remaining three lasagne sheets over the top and cover with the remaining cottage cheese sauce.
• Cover with tin foil and bake for 45 minutes. After that time, remove the foil and top with the grated mozzarella cheese. Then return to the oven for a further 15 minutes.
• Serve with a green side salad.
• Note: As zuccini contain a lot of water, you might first want to place the grated pieces in a collander and sprinkle them with a little salt. Squeeze out any excess water before adding with the other ingredients. This is optional.

EASY, HEALTHY VEGETARIAN LASAGNA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°F.
• In a large bowl combine spinach, ricotta cheese, eggs, garlic, and salt and pepper to taste.
• In a deep 9x13 lasagna pan, add a few oz of the pasta sauce to lightly coat the bottom. Add 3 lasagna noodles to cover the bottom of the pan with out overlapping the noodles.
• Add half the ricotta/spinach mixture by dolloping it onto the noodles, sprinkle zucchini, tomato slices, broccoli, onion, mushrooms and bell pepper slices. Add 20 or so oz (the rest of the first jar of pasta sauce), covering the veggies.
• On the next layer, add 3 more lasagna noodles, the other half of the spinach and ricotta mixture, the rest of the veggies, and half a jar of pasta sauce.
• Then, to finish it off, layer the remaining lasagna noodles, the rest of the pasta sauce, and the parmigiano-reggiano cheese as well as the mozzarella.
• Bake in the oven for 40-50 minutes until cheese begins to brown and bubble. Let sit for 10 minutes after removing from oven to allow liquids to be reabsorbed by veggies.
• NOTE: As mentioned in the comments, this is a very thick lasagna and there is often a lot of liquid in the pan. It is best to let the lasagna sit for 10 minutes after removing from the oven to let it absorb some of the liquid. Adding salt to remove liquid as suggested is a great idea if you plan on eating the entire lasagna the day it is made/soon after. However, this lasagna freezes and reheats VERY well and that is largely because the excess liquid when it is originally made helps keep the lasagna moist after being reheated in the microwaving process. Another way to reduce the amount of liquid is to use the type of noodles that you don't have to pre-cook, however, I prefer the texture of the ones that need precooking.

HEALTHY LASAGNA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°F.
• In a large pot over medium heat heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Stir in onion and minced garlic (1 clove). Cook stirring occasionally for 5 minutes.
• Stir in tomatoes, oregano, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes or until thick. Set aside.
• While the sauce is cooking in a 12 x 15 inch baking pan, place squash and sprinkle with the thyme, remaining olive oil and remaining salt and pepper. Add whole garlic cloves (2) and toss. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until squash is soft. While squash is cooking in a large pot bring 3 quarts of water to a boil.
• Reduce oven temperature to 350°F.
• Transfer squash mixture to a food processor and puree.
• Tear kale leaves from ribs --discard ribs. Boil leaves for 5-10 minutes or until soft. Drain and let cool.
• In the same pot bring another 3 quarts of water to a boil. Add noodles and cook according to package directions (10 minutes); drain and rinse with cold water.
• In a bowl mix together the ricotta, nutmeg, 1 cup of mozzarella and the remaining salt and pepper (1/2 tsp each).
• In a 9 x 13 inch pan pour in 1/3 of the tomato sauce, lay 3 noodles over and top with squash. Sprinkle 1/2 of the kale over. Arrange 3 more noodles on top and top with ricotta and remaining kale leaves and the noodles. Cover with remaining tomato sauce and remaining mozzarella.
• Bake for 30 minutes and let stand 10 minutes before serving. For make ahead directions see description.