Saturday, March 08, 2008

Turkey Lasagna

I know, I just posted a recipe for turkey chili, but this lasagna is absolutely amazing!



Not the best picture, but as usual, I forgot to snap a picture out of hunger.

Barefoot Contessa Turkey Lasagna

From the Barefoot Contessa Family Style cookbook

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup chopped yellow onion (1 onion)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 pounds sweet Italian turkey sausage, casings removed
1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes in tomato puree
1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, divided
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
2 teaspoons kosher salt
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 pound lasagna noodles
15 ounces ricotta cheese
3 to 4 ounces creamy goat cheese, crumbled
1 cup grated Parmesan, plus 1/4 cup for sprinkling
1 extra-large egg, lightly beaten
1 pound fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Heat the olive oil in a large (10 to 12-inch) skillet. Add the onion and cook for 5 minutes over medium-low heat, until translucent. Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute. Add the sausage and cook over medium-low heat, breaking it up with a fork, for 8 to 10 minutes, or until no longer pink. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, 2 tablespoons of the parsley, the basil, 1 1/2 teaspoons of the salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Simmer, uncovered, over medium-low heat, for 15 to 20 minutes, until thickened.

Meanwhile, fill a large bowl with the hottest tap water. Add the noodles and allow them to sit in the water for 20 minutes. Drain.

In a medium bowl, combine the ricotta, goat cheese, 1 cup of Parmesan, the egg, the remaining 2 tablespoons of parsley, remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Set aside.

Ladle 1/3 of the sauce into a 9 by 12 by 2-inch rectangular baking dish, spreading the sauce over the bottom of the dish. Then add the layers as follows: half the pasta, half the mozzarella, half the ricotta, and one 1/3 of the sauce. Add the rest of the pasta, mozzarella, ricotta, and finally, sauce. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup of Parmesan. Bake for 30 minutes, until the sauce is bubbling.

I actually left out the goat cheese in this recipe. Oh, and I just boiled the lasagna noodles as usual. This is probably the best lasagna I have ever had!

Since my friend Sara has been dieting since last may, and has lost a whopping 65 pounds, she sat down with her calculator and figured out a pretty close estimate of the calories in this dish. If you cut the lasagna into about 8 equal servings, each serving has about 550 calories.
Blizzard '08!

There is a path to the front door!



See that little green thing sticking out of the snow? That is a 12 inch ruler. This was taken at about 2 PM today. It has snowed at least another 2 inches since then.



Another picture of the front of the house:



On top of all the snow, our furnace went out yesterday afternoon. Geoff was home from work and decided to change the furnace filter. After he put the new filter in, the furnace would not turn back on. He called me at work in a panic, and I decided to leave early. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise because the roads were bad, but not as bad as they would be a couple hours later.

After putting a call in to our home warranty company, we sat and waited for the furnace repair people to call us and hopefully tell us they were coming out. Just in case, we ventured out to the Sears Hardware down the street, on Henderson Rd., and bought a couple fancy space heaters. Luckily, the furnace guy showed up at about 530. Turns out the transformer in the furnace was blown and just needed replaced. Since it was under our home warranty, this only cost us a copay of $55. Looks like we can return at least one of the space heaters. The other one has proven quite useful in heating the colder-than-the-rest-of-the-house kitchen and family room.

As far as food, I defrosted a quart container of my Chicken Tortilla Soup and had a yummy warm lunch after shoveling the driveway. Oh yes, I did help. Here is proof!



It is far away, a little Marla Hooch-ish ala A League of Their Own, but proof nonetheless.