Steve’s Mushroom, Spinach and Ground Turkey Lasagna

Ingredients

• 6 cups Ricotta Cheese part skim
• 1 bunch Basil fresh
• 4 tablespoon Oregano
• 18 No-boil lasagna noodles I prefer Ronzoni (US)
• 1 Egg
• 1 large Yellow onion
• 1 quart Spaghetti Sauce or freshly-made basil and tomato
• 1 can (12 oz) Chopped Tomatoes
• 2 cups Mushrooms sliced
• 2 large Garlic cloves
• 4 cups Mozzarella grated
• 1 lb Ground turkey
• 3 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 stalks Celery chopped
• 1 cup Spinach whole-leaf washed and dried

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375F.
2. Wash and dry spinach leaves thoroughly. Cut off stems.
3. Prepare Meat Sauce:
4. 1) Over medium-high heat, sautee celery, garlic (minced), and the chopped onion in 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil until medium brown. Add oregano. Set aside.
5. 2) In same pan, saute mushrooms until brown. Set aside.
6. 3) In same pan, saute ground turkey until brown – drain liquid. Add mushrooms and onion/celery/garlic mixture from step 1. Add spaghetti sauce and chopped tomatoes. Season with pepper to taste (if you’ve used a store-bought spaghetti sauce, chances are you won’t need additional salt.) Bring pan to low and simmer.
7. 4) Meanwhile, in large lasagna pan, spoon 5-6 tablespoonsful of the tomato sauce mixture to the bottom of the pan (this is to prevent noodles from sticking).
8. 5) Arrange enough noodles in bottom of pan to cover. Do not overlap.
9. 6) In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese, egg, and basil.
10. 7) Spoon 1/2 the ricotta cheese mixture over the noodles, top with a layer of spinach leaves, then mozzarella, then meat sauce. Add noodles and repeat – ricotta cheese, spinach, meats sauce, mozarella. Then noodles. Add meat sauce and top with mozarella cheese on top to finish.
11. Cover with aluminum foil (“tent” it a little, to ensure the cheese doesn’t stick) and bake for 40 minutes, then remove the foil and bake for another 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let rest for 5 minutes. Serve with a simple tossed salad, Italian Dressing and a bottle of Pinot Grigio or your favorite Italian red wine for a great meal.