Turkey and Spinach Lasagna

Figured it was time to write down this recipe before I throw away my current raggedy notebook.

When I started Lasagna Love, I saw myself trying lots of different recipes weekly. Then I decided to purchase equipment and supplies in bulk, and sort of defaulted to the first recipe I tried. I have modified it slightly and written for my own preferences.

Turkey and Spinach Lasagna

My first ever free lasagna

Slightly overlapping noodles

Sauce (makes enough for two 9x13 pans):

1. In a heavy-bottomed pot over medium high heat, add:

   • 4 Tbsp EVOO

   • 2 lbs ground turkey

   • salt

2. Use a spatula to break up the turkey, and cook until the moisture evaporates and the meat begins to brown.

   • Can use straight from frozen! Use a wooden spatula to scrape it off the block as the heat melts/cooks the surface.

3. Once the meat is a nice golden brown and some fond develops, turn the heat to medium-low, and add:

   • 8 cloves garlic

   • sprinkle of red pepper flakes

   • 2 tsp dried oregano

   • (more oil if necessary)

4. Allow spices to bloom and garlic to infuse for 1 or 2 minutes, and then add:

   • 2 cans of tomato paste (12 oz)

5. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, for about 5 minutes, to cook off the raw edge of the paste.

   • This step is very important! It takes a while because of the sheer amount of paste.

   • You should get a gentle sizzle, but the paste shouldn’t stick or darken too quickly.

   • Add more oil if it looks dry, add a splash of water if the fond is sticking before the paste is ready.

6. Once the paste darkens and no longer has a raw tannic aroma and taste, add:

   • two 28-oz cans of crushed tomatoes

   • 2.5 cups water (rinse out the cans!) *see below

   • 2 tsp salt

   • lots of black pepper

7. Let the mixture simmer for like 30 minutes over medium heat to allow flavors to meld.

   • I add even more water, to the point it doesn’t sputter and gurgle when simmered, to the consistency of a loose soup. This way, as it cooks and reduces, you don’t have to babysit it as much until it cooks down again.

8. Taste and re-season. It shouldn’t taste bland, but it doesn’t need to be too salty either.

Use right away, or store in two gallon-sized ziplock bags. I usually use half of it immediately to assemble a lasagna, and store the other half in the freezer. It’s good as a nice and light pasta sauce for a quick dinner too!

Frozen turkey block in EVOO

Toasting the tomato paste

Assembly (per one lasagna)

Cook the spinach mixture:

1. Saute over medium heat:

   • Extra-virgin olive oil

   • 1/2 onion, sliced pole-to-pole (so it doesn’t just melt away into the casserole)

2. Season the onion with salt, and cook until the edges just start to brown.

3. Throw in 5 oz spinach, or several large handfuls - more if you’d like. Season with more salt, and cook until spinach wilts fully.

4. Transfer into a bowl and allow to cool.

The cheeses:

• Toss very well in a bowl:

  • 1 lb mozzarella (I usually cheat using pre-shredded part-skim. It’s not ideal but it works okay)

  • 5 oz pecorino romano, microplaned

• Open a container of:

  • 1 lb whole-milk ricotta

Onions sliced pole to pole

Layers on layers

Spinach and noodles soaking

The noodle:

• Don’t use oven-ready sheets, they taste gritty and bad.

• Don’t need to boil the sheets beforehand. Just soak in hot water.

• Don’t use hot water from the tap, because iron and pipes.

• I prefer to heat lasagna sheets + cold up together in a large saute pan. Once the water forms little bubbles (it doesn’t need to boil), turn off the heat and soak for 5 more minutes.

  • The only thing to note is that the water has to go in the pan first. If you just dump a block of noodles in and add water, the water won’t get between the sheets correctly, and your noodles will stick together and/or soak unevenly

Assembly order:

TOP OF THE PAN

generous sprinkle of cheese
a thin layer of sauce
3 slices of noodle
[repeat from noodle to sauce, 2 to 3 more times]
*1 cup sauce (a thin layer spread evenly across cheese mixture)
*spinach mixture, lightly scattered
*ricotta, an even smear on the noodles
*4 pieces of noodles, slightly overlapping
1/2 cup sauce (thin layer to start)

BOTTOM OF THE PAN

This is the diagram I follow, building form the bottom.

• For the ricotta and cheese, just sort of eyeball 1/5 of each to make sure you have enough for the whole thing.

• For the sauce, I make sure to measure because otherwise it’s easy to use too much and run out. I start with dollops, and spread them out all the way to the corners.

• The spinach just gets an artful scatter. It doesn’t need to cover the entire surface.

To Bake…

1. Preheat oven to 400F.

2. Cover the assembled lasagna tightly with foil.

3. Bake for 30 minutes with foil.

4. Remove the foil, lower the oven to 350F, and bake for 20 more minutes, or until a knife easily pierces through the noodles.

5. If you’d like more color on the top, turn the broiler on for like 2 minutes. But watch it very closely so it doesn’t burn in the blink of an eye!

Almost too long in the broiler

My favorite part of this recipe is how light yet hearty it is.

The turkey isn’t overwhelmingly meaty, but is still satisfying to eat. A little spinach makes it feel healthy, despite being lasagna.

Obviously those parts can be swapped. And you can add more/less veggies and/or meat. This recipe is very forgiving. I just eyeball it every time, and it’s always delicious.