Healthy Turkey Lasagna - Sort of...

Lasagna -- a classic Italian dish filled with cheese, meat, and red sauce -- oh and noodles. I like to fill my lasagna with an abundance of rich cheeses, ground turkey, fresh oregano, and my *secret* ingredient -- lemon zest -- to give it a punch. My feelings on portion control come into play when I make this dish because it is one of those meals where you can accidentally overeat as you go in for seconds. We as human underestimate our caloric intake daily. To avoid overeating and to maintain portion control, I like to make lasagna in individual ramekins. And I only make enough for the people at the table. No overeating; unless you want more salad!

The Recipe

Ingredients:

•   1 to 1 1/2 pounds lean ground turkey
  
•   1-2 jars pasta sauce(something that you enjoy, I usually pick something with sun-dried tomatoes in it if I am not making the sauce from scratch)
  
•   2 tbsp. oregano
  
•   2 tbsp. basil
  
•   1-2 cloves fresh minced garlic
  
•   a pinch of lemon zest
  
•   1 bx of whole wheat lasagna noodles
  
•   1 lgb grated mozzarella
  
•   1-2 cups skim ricotta
  
•   1 cup shredded asiago

  
Directions:

1. Cook pasta according to the directions. when the water starts to boil...start cooking the ground turkey. Preheat oven to 350. 
   
2. Add the ground turkey to a mixing bowl and incorporate basil, oregano, minced garlic and lemon peel. Afterwards, add the turkey to a skillet and cook until brown all of the way through. Drain and set aside.
3. In a small bowl, add the ricotta, 1/4 cup of mozzarella and the asiago. Mix with a spoon. You can add a bit of fresh basil or oregano to this mixture if you want-- it tastes delicious.
4. Grease 3-6 ramekins (not the souffle size, but the the shorter, wider ones) with olive oil. Begin layering: sauce, noodle, turkey, sauce cheese, noodle, and repeat until completed. 
5. On the top of the last layer(noodles should cover it) add the remaining sauce and mozzarella cheese.
6. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes. Garnish with chives or fresh basil leaves. Some lemon zest is great too!
   

Note: If you have leftovers, make a small casserole dish of lasagna and freeze until next time. It will hold for 2-3 weeks.