*Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post with Tomato Wellness however all opinions, experiences and enjoyment of tomatoes are completely my own!

Lasagna has always been one of my favorite foods! As a kid, I loved it when my mom made us lasagna, and as a mom now, I love serving it to my kids. Although there are lots and lots of frozen and refrigerated pre-made lasagna options at grocery stores, there is nothing like the flavor and aroma of a homemade casserole dish filled with layers of pasta, meat sauce and cheese!

Over the years, I’ve modified Mom’s recipe by adding in lots of vegetables including frozen spinach, canned tomatoes, carrot, mushrooms, onion and celery. These plant-based additions boost the flavor and the nutrition to a dish that includes so many other ingredients that compliment them. I love the combination of frozen, fresh and canned vegetables, too; it’s convenient, budget friendly and I almost always have at least half of these vegetables on-hand! My lasagna would not be the same without the addition of juicy canned tomatoes and jarred tomato pasta sauce! These two staple ingredients are so versatile and consistently tasty. Here are some fun and important facts about canned tomatoes that you may not know:

  • Tomatoes go from field-to-can within about 5 hours! The average amount of days for a fresh tomato to reach most supermarkets is at least two weeks. Unless you grow your own tomatoes or live by a farm, canned tomatoes are fresher than your typical grocery store varieties!

  • Tomatoes that are picked for canning are harvested at their peak in flavor and nutrition, and the canning process locks in all that goodness until you are ready to use them!

  • Canned tomato products are an excellent source of lycopene, a carotenoid that has strong antioxidant properties that protect our bodies from diseases like cancer, diabetes and heart disease. The heat that canned tomatoes are exposed to during the cooking process make the lycopene even more bioavailable to our bodies, which makes canned and cooked tomato products an excellent and nutritious choice.

  • The long shelf life (about 3 years) and versatility of canned tomato products (diced, fire roasted, crushed, tomato paste and tomato based sauces) definitely make them a staple in my kitchen!

Pan of cooked lasagna

Turkey Spinach Lasagna

Recipe by Christy Wilson
Makes 12 pieces
Takes about 45 minutes to prepare and cook

Ingredients

  • 12 pieces of dry lasagna noodles

  • 1 cup onion, diced

  • 1 cup carrot, shredded

  • 1 cup celery, sliced

  • 2 cups of mushrooms, chopped

  • 2 cloves garlic, diced

  • 1, 12 oz bag frozen spinach

  • 15 ounces part-skim ricotta cheese

  • 1 egg

  • 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil

  • 1 pound lean ground turkey meat

  • 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary

  • 1/2 teaspoon dried garlic powder

  • 1/2 teaspoon dried onion powder

  • 1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt

  • 1/4 teaspoon dried sage

  • 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper

  • 1 can diced tomato

  • 1, 24 ounce jar of your favorite tomato-based pasta sauce

  • 2 cups shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

  • 1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese

  • Fresh basil sprigs for garnish

Directions

  1. Preheat oven at 350ºF.

  2. Fill a large pot with water and over medium-high heat, boil pasta noodles until al dente, about 8-10 minutes. Turn off heat and with tongs, carefully remove each noodle from the pot and place onto a clean dish cloth to allow noodles to completely dry off.

  3. Next, in a medium sized microwave safe bowl, add frozen spinach and microwave for 1-2 minutes until thawed. Place spinach on stacked paper towels or a thick, clean dishcloth and squeeze out as much water as possible, until spinach has a dry, paste-like consistency. Place back into a dry bowl, then add ricotta and egg. Mix until ingredients are fully combined. Set aside.

  4. To prepare meat sauce, add all dried seasonings to ground turkey and mix until meat is fully seasoned. Over medium heat, add olive oil to a large pot and sauté onion, celery and carrot until tender. Then, add in mushrooms and garlic and cook until fragrant.

  5. Add seasoned turkey to the pot and diced tomato. Brown meat and mix all ingredients until combined. Add entire jar of pasta sauce to the pot and mix ingredients until combined. Bring sauce to a simmer and cook over low heat for about 10 minutes. Turn off heat and allow sauce to cool slightly.

  6. In a 9x13 inch a casserole dish, add a thin layer of meat sauce to the bottom the dish, then arrange 1 layer of pasta noodles (3-4) lengthwise over the sauce. Next, cover noodles with 1/2 of the spinach mixture, then cover that with a layer of meat sauce. Sprinkle the sauce with a layer of mozzarella cheese and a light topping of parmesan cheese. Repeat process a second layer of noodles, spinach mix, meat sauce and cheese.

  7. Top the final layer of noodles with the remainder of meat sauce and cheese. Loosely cover dish with foil, then place prepared lasagna into the oven and bake for about 15 minutes. Then, remove foil and bake, uncovered, for an additional 15 minutes.

  8. Garnish with fresh basil and enjoy!

All photos by Christy Wilson.

Plated turkey spinach lasagna


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