6
Serves
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking/baking time: 1 hour
You can’t beat lasagna for crowd-pleasing appeal and make-ahead convenience. We’ve given our favorite lasagna a healthier spin by lightening up the meat and cheese layers and bulking up the spinach layer. Oven-ready noodles speed up preparation time. You can assemble the recipe in advance through Step 4, cover, and refrigerate for up to 2 days or freeze for up to 3 months (thaw in the refrigerator before baking).
1 link (4 ounces/125 grams) hot Italian turkey sausage, casing removed
1 jar (26 ounces/700 milliliters) marinara sauce (3 cups)
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 1/2 packages (10 ounces/300 grams each) frozen spinach
1 large egg
1 container (15 ounces/475 grams) reduced-fat ricotta cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Freshly ground pepper to taste
12 oven-ready lasagna noodles (see Tip)
1 1/3 cups shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
1. Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Coat a 9 x 13-inch (23 x 33-centimeter) baking dish with nonstick spray.
2. Cook the sausage in a small nonstick skillet over medium heat, crumbling with a wooden spoon, until browned, 2 to 4 minutes. Blot the sausage with paper towel. Transfer to a medium bowl. Stir in the marinara sauce, oregano, and red pepper.
3. Cook the spinach according to package directions. Drain and refresh under cold running water. Drain the spinach well and press out moisture. Whisk the egg and ricotta in a medium bowl until smooth. Add the spinach, 1/4 cup of the Parmesan, the nutmeg, and the black pepper. Mix well.
4. Place 3 of the lasagna noodles in a deep dish or bowl and cover with warm water. Let soak while you assemble the lasagna. Spread about 3/4 cup of the marinara sauce mixture in the baking dish. Place 3 of the remaining unsoaked noodles crosswise over the sauce. Spread about 1 1/3 cups of the spinach mixture over the noodles. Spoon 1/2 cup marinara sauce over the spinach mixture. Sprinkle with 1/3 cup mozzarella. Add another layer of unsoaked noodles and repeat layering with spinach mixture and marinara sauce and mozzarella 2 more times. Lift the soaked noodles from the water, shake off excess, and arrange over lasagna. Spread the remaining marinara sauce evenly over the final layer of noodles.
5. Cover the lasagna with aluminum foil and bake for 35 minutes. Sprinkle with the remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan and 1/3 cup mozzarella. Bake, uncovered, until noodles are tender and lasagna is bubbly, about 15 minutes longer. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving. One serving is one 4 1/2 x 3 1/2-inch (11 x 9-centimeter) piece.
Per serving: 400 calories, 24 g protein, 34 g carbohydrates, 5 g fiber, 19 g total fat, 8 g saturated fat, 986 mg sodium.
Tip: Oven-ready lasagna noodles eliminate the step of boiling the noodles. However, even when the top layer of oven-ready noodles is thoroughly covered with sauce, it never seems to tenderize properly. To remedy this problem, soak the 3 noodles for the top layer in warm water before assembling the lasagna.