Low carb turkey and veggie lasagna!

Low Carb Veggie Lasagna!

Who doesn't love Lasagna?  Anyone?  When I think of lasagna, I think of noodles, a heavy cheese layer, and a greasy meaty saucy layer, and it is delicious goodness!

Not everyone can afford the calories in traditional lasagna, so I came up with a slimmed down recipe that adds veggies into every corner and takes out a huge number of calories!  In fact, 1/10th of this huge lasagna is only 250 calories!

Start off  with the cheesy mix!  Mix together:

1 bag of frozen chopped spinach, thawed, and aggressively rung out!

1 can of artichokes, rinsed, drained, and aggressively rung out

salt to taste

1/2 cup pecorino romano cheese, grated

2 large eggs

Make sure to taste for salt before adding the eggs!  

In a pan over medium high heat, toss in the onions and allow to soften before adding garlic and mushrooms.  Cook until a bit of fond develops...  the browning on the bottom of the pan.  This is how you perk up a store bought sauce!

  

1 Tablespoon EVOO

2 cups mushrooms, diced

1 onion, finely diced

2 cloves garlic, grated into the pan

Once the fond is developed, and the veggies are softened, add your turkey meat.  I used 97% lean.  Don't be afraid to let the meat sit and develop a brown!  You can get away with turkey meat if you let it caramelize in the pan!  Cook until all meat is cooked and browned, then add 1 jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce.  This is the only thing not homemade in the recipe, but feel free to make your own!

1 lb. ground 97% lean turkey meat

1 jar spaghetti sauce

Let everything cook until the turkey meat is crumbled and the sauce has darkened.  Make sure all the brown bits have been picked off the bottom!  Set aside to cool down!

While the meat sauce is cooling, you can either pre-boil noodles, or slice your zucchini to use as noodles.  I used a mandolin to slice the zucchini about the thickness of a lasagna noodle, just watch those fingers!

 

Start the baking dish with a little cooking spray, then start building.  One layer of meat sauce, noodles or zucchini, cheese mix, meat sauce, noodles or zucchini...  you can figure out the rest!  End it off with the cheese mix, then shredded mozzarella and a sprinkle of Parmesan.  I love shredding my own cheese, but feel free to use pre- shredded for a more even cut.

 

You can freeze the pre-baked lasagna, or keep in the fridge for a  make ahead meal.  This is also fantastic to give to new parents, or someone who could use a homemade meal!  If frozen, allow to thaw for at least two days in the fridge.  Pop this in a cold oven and set to 375* for about an hour, or until hot, bubbly, and browned on the top.

For all of you non- carb fearing folks out there, I also make this into a more casual pasta bake, by pre-cooking pasta and mixing it all together!  I like to use farfalle whole wheat noodles, just under cook them by at least 2-3 minutes.  Allow the noodles to cool, and mix the meat sauce, cheese mix, and pasta all together and top with cheese.  This recipe was wiped out at our last potluck for my husband's troop, and received rave reviews!