Take-In Thursday ~ Butternut Squash Lasagna

Happy Thursday!

Today we are providing you with a recipe we are making this weekend and wanted to share with everyone. It is a nice dish to bring to a party or a potluck. We hope you find it tasty! Think about different vegetables you can add to it to make it even more flavorful!

We would love to hear your feedback as well.



Today's Recipe:

Butternut Squash Lasagna

Serves about 8 people

Ingredients:

1 onion, diced

4 cloves of garlic, chopped

2 Tbs olive oil

20 oz. ground turkey

28-oz can of crushed tomatoes with herbs

18 oz of canned tomato paste (3 six-ounce cans)

1 ½ cups water

1 ½ tsp dried basil leaves

1 tsp Italian seasoning

1 tsp fennel seeds

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp coarse black pepper

½ cup parsley, finely chopped

3 ½ cups butternut squash, peeled and cubed

10-oz fresh spinach

1 egg

15-oz fat free or low fat ricotta cheese

6-oz shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided

9 lasagna noodles, whole wheat

2 zucchini, sliced lengthwise

Directions:

1.       Preheat oven oven to 375 degree F.

2.       Cook lasagna noodles according to package directions and set aside.

3.       In a sauce pan, steam the butternut squash cubes until tender or a fork can pierce through without any resistance. This should take about 10 minutes. Then set aside.

4.       Heat large skillet with olive oil over medium-high heat. Cook onion for 4 minutes, or until fragrant.

5.       Add ground turkey to the skillet and stir breaking it up into small pieces. Cook until browned, about 8 minutes.

6.       Add the crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, water, dried herbs, black pepper and ¼ cup of parsley to the skillet with the turkey mixture. Reduce heat and let simmer stirring occasionally until the sauce reduces about an hour.

7.       Meanwhile, sauté the spinach in another skillet until wilted, about 5 minutes. Set aside.

8.       In a bowl, stir together the ricotta cheese, egg, ¼ cup parsley, spices, ¼ tsp black pepper and 4 oz of mozzarella cheese.

9.       In a 9x13 inch baking dish, pour in 1 ½ cups of the sauce. Arrange 3 of the lasagna noodles over the sauce and then spread 1 cup of the cheese mixture over the noodles. Sprinkle half the butternut squash on top of the cheese mixture and layer half the spinach on the squash. Place half the zucchini slices over the spinach and then repeat this layering.

10.    Top the lasagna with the last 3 noodles and then spread and cheese left before placing the last of the sauce mixture and cover with aluminum foil.

11.    Bake for 30 minutes. Then remove the aluminum foil and sprinkle remaining 2 ounces of mozzarella. Place dish back in the oven and bake 15 more minutes uncovered.

Enjoy your winter dish :)

Get Fit For It,
D & K

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