Lasagna with Ground Turkey Spinach and Basil

Lasagna with Ground Turkey Spinach and Basil

3-4 rectangular sheets fresh pasta (you can substitute no-boil lasagna noodles such as Barilla brand if you can't find fresh. I found the fresh sheets in Whole Foods)

1 lb natural preferably organic ground turkey (or 1 container Lightlife, Yves, or Quorn brand veggie crumbles. Yves even has a soy ground turkey option which Melyssa says is pretty good)

3 cups fresh spinach leaves

6-8 fresh basil leaves roughly chopped

1 jar your favorite tomato pasta sauce (I like Daves Gourmet. Trader Joe's has a marinara with garlic that is also quite delicious)

1 container fresh part-skim ricotta cheese

1 cup grated or shredded Parmesan or Parmesan blend

8-10 small fresh mozzarella balls (or 6-8 pieces of fresh mozzarella sliced or torn into bite-sized chunks)

2 tbs. extra virgin olive oil plus more for drizzling

1 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. onion powder

1/2 tsp. salt or to taste

1 tsp. fresh ground pepper or to taste

1 tsp. dried oregano or Italian seasoning

In a large pot, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Sprinkle in a pinch of salt and add turkey (or veggie substitute). Season with garlic powder, onion powder, fresh pepper, and oregano/Italian seasoning. Saute until cooked through (if you are using fake meat it won't take as long). Add jar of your favorite pasta sauce.

*Shortcut Alert*

Instead of preparing the ground turkey sauce yourself, you can use two boxes of Trader Joe's brand Turkey Bolognese  sauce-  prepared according to package  directions in the microwave You will still need some jarred sauce to finish the dish, but you will can skip the above step and proceed as follows.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a rectangular ovenproof baking dish add a small amount of pasta sauce (just to coat the bottom). Add a layer of pasta sheets on top of the sauce. Top the pasta with dollops of ricotta cheese and sprinkle fresh parmesean on top. Add a layer of fresh spinach and top with some fresh basil leaves. Top the spinach basil layer with ground turkey sauce. Repeat this layering process 2-3 times (pasta, ricotta, parmesean, spinach, basil and sauce). The last layer should be a pasta sheet topped with sauce and dollops of ricotta, fresh mozzarella and Parmesan. Drizzle a few drops of extra virgin olive oil on top. Bake for 35-40 minutes until hot and bubbly (fresh pasta will take less time than the no-boil noodles).

This can be made 1 day ahead and kept in the refridgerator until baked. The ground Turkey/tomato sauce mixture can be made 2-3 days ahead.