Love To Love Ya Lasagna

I started to call this recipe "skinny lasagna" or "light lasagna", but it just didn't seem appropriate.  Yes, it is  true, this is a "slimmed down" lasagna, but really, that is not at all what it tastes like! It is just my lasagna I make.  Over the years I have tried out different ways to make lasagna, one of my favorite dishes, lighter.  I guess it all started by using turkey instead of beef.  Most of the time people wouldn't notice until I said something so I just stuck with it.  So here it is... my lasagna!  Enjoy! :-D

 

Love To Love Ya Lasagna

Servings: 12 • Calories: 356 • Fat: 7g • Carbs: 34g • Fiber: 3g • WW Points:7

        Ingredients

• 2 jars Barilla roasted garlic pasta sauce
• 1 box Barilla no boil flat lasagna noodles
• 1/4 cup egg whites
• 16 oz fat free cottage cheese
• 15 oz fat free ricotta cheese
• 1/4 cup reduced fat parmesan cheese
• 2 - 8 oz bags of fat free mozzarella cheese
• 8 oz bag of low fat mozzarella cheese
• 1lb lean ground turkey breast (99% fat free)
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tsp oregano
• 2 tsp garlic salt (ex.Lawry's)

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Heat oil in a large pan. Add onions, 1 tsp of garlic salt, and 1 tsp of oregano and saute over medium high heat (6-7 on my stove's dial) for 3-5 minutes.  Add garlic and cook for another minute or two being careful not to burn the garlic.

Add the turkey and mash into the onion and garlic mixture.  The idea here is to fully incorporate the onion mixture into the turkey before it is cooked.

Using a spoon safe at high heats, break apart the turkey into tiny pieces while it cooks.  Continue to cook the turkey and onion mixture until the turkey is no longer pink. 

Turn off the stove burner and pour in both jars of pasta sauce.  I like to add a tiny bit of water to each jar, put the caps back on, and give 'em a good shake.  Pour the remaining sauce into the pan.  Stir the sauce and meat mixture and set aside.  This is your sauce.

In a large bowl, mix ricotta cheese, cottage cheese, 8 oz fat free mozzarella cheese, 1/8 cup of parmesan cheese, egg whites, 1 tsp of oregano, and 1 tsp of garlic salt.  This is your cheese mixture.

Now it is time to put together the lasagna.  You will need a nice deep lasagna pan or dish.  This can be glass or metal.  (I used glass. You may need to adjust your cooking time for metal.  Just a thought.)  Don't stress too much about putting the lasagna together.  Just layer it.  I start with a tiny bit of sauce, lay the uncooked noodles down, add some cheese, and start all over.  You just want to make sure the noodles are covered good with some type of liquid.  What this means is you want to shoot for ending up with sauce on the top layer. 

Evenly scatter 8 oz fat free mozzarella over the top, then the low fat mozzarella   Finish by distributing the remaining 1/8 cup parmesan cheese.  I like to sprinkle a teeny bit of oregano over the top.

Cover the lasagna with tin foil (I like to use the non-stick kind with the nonstick facing down.).  Place in 350 degree oven for 55 minutes.  Remove tin foil and continue cooking 5 minutes.  Allow about ten minutes to cool.