Sausage and Spinach Lasagna
Posted in Low Calorie, Main Course, Pasta, Poultry on December 13th, 2009 by Eileen DevlinOkay. . .so here goes another night of cooking! I’m sure many of you have made a lasagna in your lifetime, so here is another variation. This dish turned out very well and is perfect for cold weather comfort food!
You will need:
8 oz uncooked bulk turkey sausage/extra-lean ground beef
3/4 c chopped onion
4 cloves garlic, minced
1-15 oz can tomato sauce
1 c bottled roasted red sweet peppers, drained and chopped
2 tbsp snipped fresh basil/2 tsps dried basil, crushed
1 tbsp snipped fresh oregano/1 tsp dried oregano, crushed
1/4 tsp black pepper
6 dried whole grain lasagna noodles (I used whole wheat and just customize the size length of the noodles to your baking dish)
1-15 oz carton light ricotta cheese
1-10 oz package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well drained
1 egg white, lightly beaten
1 c shredded reduced fat mozzarella cheese
1. Preheat oven to 375 and prep your baking dish. In a large skillet combine sausage, onion, and garlic and brown the meat. Don’t forget to drain the fat!
2. Stir in tomato sauce, red peppers, dried basil and dried oregano (if using), and black pepper. Bring to boiling then reduce heat. Cover and simmer for about 10 minutes and stir occasionally. If you are using fresh basil and oregano add it at this time.
3. In another bowl stir ricotta, spinach and egg white together.
4. Place the bottom noodles (Two says the recipe - depending on your dish size. I had shorter noodles so I used three to fill up my dish) in the prepped baking dish. Put 1/3 spinach mixture, then 1/3 meat mixture, then some mozarella. Repeat two more times but do not put the mozarella on just yet. Cover with a sprayed piece of foil and bake for about 40 min (since whole wheat/whole grain takes a little longer).
So here is the first layer . . .
5. Remove foil and sprinkle remaining mozarella and bake for about 5 minutes more. Makes 8 servings!
Fresh and ready to go!
Mmmm delish!
Side note: This *is* a lower calorie version of a ‘traditional’ lasagna. If you didn’t want to go that route then obviously you can go with different meat/sausage and use cheeses that aren’t skim. There is no extra sauce leftover – just for those of you who happen to want more – so keep that in mind. You can always make 1/2 more of the recipe’s meat sauce if you want, especially for leftovers.
Nutritional information:
Calories: 237
Total Fat: 7 g
Cholesterol: 42 g
Protein: 18 g
Carbohydrate: 25 g
Fiber: 5 g
Sodium: 613 mg
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I frequently make spaghetti sauce and lasagna with sausage meat because it’s often less expensive for me than ground beef or ground turkey. It also makes for more interesting flavours. Your lasagna looks awesome!
Using sausage meat would definitely be good! Turkey meat obviously does not have as intense of a flavor so the seasoning in this recipe makes up for that. And, I agree, it is more expensive to use turkey or other leaner meats. I was pleased at how well it came out, so thank you for that. I saw your website so I have to say coming from you that is a *real* compliment!
A few thoughts….
1) The top layer of the Lasagna does not look like it meets the pan – are the noodles more flavorful due to them browning more?
2) Your plating looks quite appealing, nice job on that.
3) Does the lower fat content in the meat and cheese have any impact on flavor?
Really nice looking dish!
1) No they didn’t brown anymore (since they are already wheat – and you can whole grain if desired) and neither did they crisp since they weren’t touching the sides of the pan. The foil retained moisture and the noodles were soft and didn’t taste any different to me.
2) Thank you!
3) No, with the exception of not having that unmistakable greasy, heavy feeling that you usually have after a plate of pasta! But after you’re seeing your other posts I’m sure you might prefer beef or sausage over turkey. Whatever works but I’m all about eating healthy (yet tasty) and in moderation!
RE #3
That whole greasy, heavy feeling IS the reason to eat pasta! And this whole concept of moderation is lost on me too. Foreign languages and blasphemy being spoken! Blasphemy I say!
All kidding aside, we I give this a shot it will be as called for by the recipe. The two veggie dishes I’ve made show that high fat content isn’t needed for taste.
If any apprehension at all, go with a different meat and keep the rest the same. Just sayin’! Let me know how it goes!
No, no apprehension at all!