This is a great alternative to a classic meat lasagna
recipe. Using zucchini to replace the pasta noodles reduces the caloric intake immensely; one lasagna noodle is approximately 70
calories where as a whole medium zucchini is only 33 calories.
First, start by making the tomato and basil sauce by heating
up one teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil in a saucepan. Add three minced
garlic cloves and three quarter cup of white onion to the pan and cook until
they brown. Add in three cups of diced tomatoes, one and one half tablespoon of
basil paste and sea salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer
on medium heat for ten minutes, Remove from heat and transfer to a blender.
Blend until smooth and set aside.
In a large frying pan coated with one teaspoon of extra
virgin olive oil, cook one pound of extra lean ground turkey until it browns.
Add three cups of chopped spinach to the mixture and cook until it becomes
tender. Finally, add the tomato and basil sauce to the blend, mix well and
remove from heat.
To make the lasagna noodles, cut a zucchini in half
lengthwise and shave into thin slices. You may have to use an additional half
of a zucchini to yield enough slices.
Assemble the lasagna by covering the bottom of a medium dish
with half of the meat sauce. Next, layer zucchini slices over top as you would
with normal lasagna noodles.
Evenly spread half a cup of light extra smooth
ricotta cheese over top of the zucchini slices and cover with a quarter cup of
light mozzarella cheese.
Next, evenly coat the cheese layer with a quarter cup
of the meat sauce. Cover this layer with more zucchini slices. Top lasagna with
remaining quarter cup of meat sauce and top with remaining half cup of
mozzarella cheese.
Cook in the
oven at 350oF for 20-25 minutes. Remove from the oven, cut in four
slices and serve!
Ingredients:
1 lbs. Extra lean ground turkey
1-1 ½ Zucchini, shredded
3 cups Tomatoes, diced
¾ cup White onion, diced
3 cups Spinach, chopped
3 Garlic cloves, minced
1 ½ tbsp. Basil paste
½ cup Light extra smooth ricotta cheese
¾ cup Light mozzarella cheese
2 tsp Extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt and ground pepper to taste
Instructions:
Tomato Sauce:
- Heat up 1 tsp olive oli in a saucepan. Add garlic and onions and cook until they brown.
- Add tomatoes, basil paste, sea salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer on medium heat for 10 minutes.
- Transfer sauce to a blender and blend until smooth.
Meat Sauce:
- In a large frying pan, heat up 1 tsp of olive oil and add ground turkey. Add salt and pepper to taste Cook until browned.
- Add spinach to the meat mixture and cook until tender.
- Add tomato sauce to the blend, mix well and set aside.
Lasagna:
- Cut zucchini in half lengthwise and shave into thin slices.
- Assemble lasagna in a medium side dish. First, first cover bottom of dish with ½ meat mixture.
- Next, top with layer of zucchini slices.
- Spread ricotta cheese evenly over zucchini and top with ¼ cup mozzarella cheese.
- Cover lasagna with ¼ meat sauce and top with layer of zucchini slices.
- Spread remaining ¼ meat sauce evenly over zucchini and top with remaining ½ cup of mozzarella.
- Cook in oven at 350oF for 20-25 minutes.
Makes 4 servings. Each serving is approximately 320
calories.
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