Turkey Lasagna with Spinach

I epically failed in taking a Mommy and Me Monday photo this week (again). Scott worked pretty much all weekend and slept pretty much the entire time he was home. I think he pulled 20 something hours in just the 2 days, it was crazy. Since he was semi-conscious last night around dinner time I decided to make a turkey and spinach lasagna. The recipe is actually from the White House (yes, the White House). It was super simple to take and tasted AMAZING.

Here's what you need:

• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 cup chopped yellow onion (I actually used Vidalia, I love them)
• 1 pound fresh ground turkey
• 1 (28 oz) can plum tomatoes, crushed
• 1 (6 oz) can tomato paste
• Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
• 15 oz low-fat ricotta or cottage cheese
• 3/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 2 pounds fresh spinach
• 16 cooked lasagna noodles
• 1 pound low-fat shredded mozzarella cheese

What to do:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees
• Peel and mince your garlic
• In a large skillet, over medium heat, heat your olive oil.
• Add onion and cook until translucent
• Add garlic and cook for 1 additional minute
• Add ground turkey and cook for about 10 minutes (until cooked through)
• Add the crushed tomatoes and tomato paste to turkey mixture and stir to combine
• Season with salt and pepper
• Reduce the heat and let mixture simmer until thickened, about 20 minutes
• Stir in basil and parsley
• Remove from heat and set aside
• In a medium bowl combine ricotta or cottage cheese, 1/2 cup of the parmesan cheese, and the egg
• Season to taste with salt and pepper
• Wash, but do not dry your spinach
• Place spinach in a large skillet over medium heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until wilted
• Remove from heat and set aside
• In a 9-by-13 baking dish ladle 1/4 of the turkey mixture, spread it so it covers the bottom of the pan
• Lay four lasagna noodles on top, then add 1/3 of the mozzarella cheese, 1/3 of the ricotta cheese mixture, 1/3 of the spinach and another 1/4 of the turkey mixture
• Repeat layers of noodles, mozzarella, spinach and turkey two more times
• Top with remaining four noodles
• Sprinkle remaining 1/4 of the parmesan cheese on top
• Place in oven and bake for 25-30 minutes until cheese is bubbling
• Let stand for 5 minutes before cutting and serving

I boiled my own noodles this time, and never again will I do that. I think it is so much easier to just buy the pre-boiled noodles and work with those. Also, next time I make this I may ladle some sauce on the top layer, those noodles were really crunchy. Maybe I didn't have enough cheese? The recipe says this serves 6, I think this depends on how big of slices you cut. 4 people ate this, two slices each, and we still have leftovers.

You could probably also make this ahead of time and fresh until you are ready to bake it, or freeze your leftovers and just reheat when ready to eat.