Whole Wheat Lasagna

More comfort food! Here's a healthier version of lasagna that tastes totally unhealthy :)

First, make the turkey spaghetti sauce. It's much healthier than jarred or canned sauce. This recipe makes twelve cups so you can freeze the leftovers for another lasagna or serve it over whole wheat pasta:

Homemade Spaghetti Sauce with Turkey

2 lb ground turkey

2 T olive oil
1 c onion
3 oz baby carrots
3-4 cloves garlic
28oz diced tomatoes
29oz tomato sauce
12oz tomato paste
2 c water
3 t fresh basil (or the stuff in the tube)
2 t dried parsley
1 t kosher salt
1/4 t crushed red pepper
1/4 t black pepper
1/4 c red wine

Process onion, carrots and garlic in food processor until finely chopped. (I do this to "hide" veggies for the family I cook for. The kids love spaghetti and don't know it's full of the good stuff!) Heat oil in a large stock pot over medium heat and cook ground turkey, drain, return to pot and add veggies. Cook an additional 3-4 minutes until tender. Add all tomatoes, water, spices and stir well. Bring to boil and reduce heat to low. Add in wine. Simmer on low 1-2 hours (or longer) stirring occasionally so it doesn't burn! Makes 12 - one cup servings.  Serve over whole wheat pasta or use in lasagna. 

Whole Wheat Lasagna with Turkey

4 cups Spaghetti Sauce with turkey

6 whole wheat lasagna noodles, cooked per package directions

1 1/2 cups 2% cottage cheese

8 slices part skim mozzarella cheese

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Here are the layers:

Scoop one cup of sauce into an 8x8 baking dish. 

Layer 3 noodles (trim off 1/3 of noodles to save for another layer) on top of sauce. 

Top with 1/2 c of cottage cheese and spread evenly. 

Top with another cup of sauce,

Then 4 slices of cheese to cover. 

Layer 3 more trimmed noodles, 

Then 1/2 c cottage cheese,

Then another cup of sauce (no mozzarella on this layer). 

Use the 6 trimmed pieces of noodle to make the last layer. 

Top with 1/2 c cottage cheese, one cup of sauce and 4 slices of mozzarella. 

Cover tightly with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake another 10-15 minutes. Let rest 10 minutes before cutting into 4 servings. Enjoy!