You’re going to want to stick around for this delicious recipe for Classic Light Lasagna.
We had some special family members visiting our house last week- my (chef) nephew, his wife and their adorable 22-month-old daughter. I love having people staying with us because that gives me an opportunity to think up a delicious menu, pop open the good wine, and eat in our rarely-touched-but-much-loved dining room! My nephew cooks a LOT when he’s working on the Idaho Ranch where he plans all of the menus and food that his ranch guests eat, so I wanted him to relax and enjoy some home-cooked meals. Lasagna seemed like the perfect comfort-food meal for us all. A light lasagna was an even better choice!
The recipe comes from David Joachim’s book: Global Kitchen: The World’s Most Delicious Food Made Easy (a collaboration with Cooking Light). I first met David last year in Las Vegas when we were judging the Pillsbury Bake Off together. I came to learn that he’s an extremely talented recipe developer who has written dozens of cookbooks. In fact, Global Kitchen is his 40th cookbook. There are so many interesting dishes shared in this book, and there are big beautiful photographs of them all too. Every recipe includes nutritional information. It’s a good one to have on your cookbook shelf.
This light lasagna begins with a homemade sauce that utilized vegetables, ground turkey (I use 93% lean) and a little bit of pancetta. I love the sauce so much that I make it again all by itself to have with other pasta! The lasagna is layered with a simple ricotta/mozzarella/egg mixture, the sauce and cooked noodles, and then it’s baked for just 35 minutes.
It turns out SO good. I’m pretty sure it’s the sauce that puts it over the top. Everything about it said “This is a really good homemade lasagna!” And nothing about it says, “This totally tastes like a lighter lasagna.” It is perfect in every way. I believe even my fancy schmancy chef nephew and his wife were happy with it too. Their 22-month old had it for lunch the next day and was gobbling it up! Sometimes the simplest comfort food is the best choice for guests!
The Best Pasta Recipes:
Classic Light Lasagna
Ingredients
SAUCE:
- 1½ cups chopped onion
- ¾ cup chopped celery
- ½ cup chopped carrot
- 4 medium garlic cloves, peeled
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 ounce diced pancetta (can use proscuitto)
- 1 pound 99% lean ground turkey breast
- ¼ cup white wine
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¾ teaspoon crushed red pepper
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 cup 1% low fat milk
- ½ cup chopped fresh basil
- One 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes, undrained
- cooking spray
- 1½ cups part skim ricotta cheese
- 6 ounces (1½ cups) shredded part skim mozzarella cheese, divided
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- 6 cooked lasagna noodles
Instructions
PREPARE THE SAUCE:
- Place the onion, celery, carrot and garlic in a food processor; pulse until coarsely ground.
- Heat a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the oil to the pan; swirl to coat. Add the tomato paste and pancetta; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add the turkey, and cook 4 minutes, stirring to crumble.
- Add the wine; cook 2 minutes or until the liquid evaporates, scraping the pan to loosen the browned bits. Add the onion mixture, salt, red pepper, oregano and black pepper to the pan, and cook 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the milk and basil; cook 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the tomatoes; reduce the heat, and simmer for 20 minutes.
MAKE THE FILLING:
- In a medium bowl, combine the ricotta, mozzarella and egg.
ASSEMBLE THE LASAGNA:
- Preheat oven to 425°F. Spray a 13×9 inch glass or ceramic baking dish with nonstick spray.
- Spread ¾ cup of the sauce in the bottom of the prepared dish. Arrange 3 noodles over the sauce; top with half of the remaining sauce and half of the ricotta mixture (I spooned it on and gently spread it over the noodles). Repeat the layers once, ending with the ricotta mixture. Sprinkle the remaining ½ cup mozzarella evenly over the top.
- Bake for 35 minutes. If your cheese is not golden brown already, you can preheat the broiler and broil the lasagna for 2 minutes (mine was already toasted, so I skipped this step). Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Just found this book at Half Price Books this weekend for $9.99! Whole book looks great!
Looks great Lori – I don’t think anyone would be fooled by the ‘lightness’ – looks amazing and rich!
Lasagna is the perfect meal for a crowd! Makes a ton and who doesn’t love it? Love that this is a lighter version, too 🙂
Lightened up lasagna would be a huge hit over here, and all that golden browned cheese that looks perfect!
Thank you for the nice recipe, Lori. Sounds so good and I’m sure it is.
What a great looking lasagna! …and it’s lighter too! Win!!
Lasagna is my weakness! Love this lighter version so I can have more! Pinned!
Lighter versions of comfort food are my absolute favorite recipes to make. This lasagna is a perfect example and would be a total hit at our house!
I really like your lighter spin on Lasagna, it’s my kids favorite meal – no time to worry about stained shirts here! And you only use 6 noodles which keeps the carb count low which is nice. That bubbly cheese on top look too good to be true. Will definitely be trying your version over the traditional Ragu one I’ve been using =) And my little ones gobble down leftover lasagna too the next day for lunch. So easy just to reheat!
Love the storytelling and that no one suspected it was ‘lighter’ and that the sauce is good enough to re-make on it’s own! Love the perfectly browned cheese! Pinned!