One of my husband's favorites meals is my lasagna. Even when he and I weren't clean eaters, I would hesitate to make this meal because I knew how terrible all of the cheesy, gooey-goodness was for us! I would limit our lasagna intake to about 2 times a year, one of those times being his birthday. Every year on his birthday, I tell my husband that I will cook him anything that he wants... and every year, he chooses lasagna. With that being said, I hesitated to make this "healthier" version of lasagna. Even when I mentioned it to him, he definitely didn't seem sold on the idea and I swear I saw him wrinkle his nose a little bit! I checked out a bunch of different recipes and did a little research. Most people gave it a two thumbs up, so I figured I would give it a whirl. Hey... you don't know unless you try, right?
In the end, this recipe was a winner! My husband told me twice that it was good and even offered to eat the leftovers tomorrow night so I didn't have to cook again. SUCCESS! If it's hubby approved, then you know it's good!
So here's what you will need:
1 lb ground turkey
1/2 chopped onion
1 Jar clean pasta sauce (no sugar added)
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp basil
1/4 tsp garlic powder
sea salt and black pepper to taste
16 oz cottage cheese or ricotta cheese
1 cup mozzarella cheese
3 medium zucchinis
Cut zucchini into thin slices lengthwise. I read a lot of reviews that stated that their zucchini lasagna was runny because of the water in the zucchini itself. After slicing the zucchini, I laid the slices out on a baking sheet covered with paper towels. I then covered the top with paper towels and placed a heavy item on top in an effort to get some of the water out prior to baking. You can also grill the slices as well to remove some of the water.
In a large skillet, cook ground turkey and onion until meat is cooked through.
Layer zucchini, meat sauce, cottage cheese and repeat. Top final layer with mozzarella cheese.
Cover and bake at 375 degrees for approximately 50 minutes . Remove cover and bake an additional 10 minutes to brown cheese.
I was so excited to try it that I forgot to take a picture of what the finished product looked like! It actually looked exactly like my "regular" lasagna if that helps!
