Spinach and Turkey Sausage Lasagna

POINTS: 6
MAKES: 12 servings
CRISPY RATING: Creamy... cheesey... lowfat?!! O happy day!

Ingredients

  • 3 Tablespoons Light Butter
  • 1/3 Cup All-purpose Flour
  • 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
  • 1/4 Teaspoon Pepper
  • 3 Cups Skim Milk
  • 3 Ounces Fat-free Cream Cheese, cubed
  • 3/4 Cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
  • 20 Ounces Sweet Turkey Italian Sausage, casings removed and crumbled
  • 1 Medium Onion, chopped
  • 4 Garlic Cloves, minced
  • 1 Teaspoon Dried Oregano
  • 1 Teaspoon Dried Marjoram
  • 1/2 Teaspoon Fennel Seed, crushed
  • 7 1/4 Ounces Roasted Red Peppers, drained and chopped
  • 1/2 Cup White Wine, or chicken broth
  • 20 Oz Frozen Chopped Spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
  • 3/4 Cup Fat-free Cottage Cheese
  • 1/4 Teaspoon Ground Nutmeg
  • 9 Lasagna Noodles - cooked, rinsed and drained
  • 1/2 Cup Lowfat Mozzarella Cheese

1. In a saucepan, melt butter. Stir in flour, salt and pepper until smooth. Gradually stir in milk. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 1-2 minutes or until thickened. Stir in cream cheese until melted. Stir in Parmesan cheese just until melted. Remove from the heat; set aside.

2. In a large nonstick skillet coated with nonstick cooking spray, cook sausage, onion and garlic over medium heat until sausage is no longer pink; drain. Stir in oregano, marjoram and fennel; cook for 1 minute. Add roasted peppers and wine or broth. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 3-5 minutes or until liquid is reduced to 3 tablespoons. Remove from the heat; set aside.

3. In a small bowl, combine spinach, cottage cheese and nutmeg; set aside.

4. Spread 1/2 cup cheese sauce in a 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking dish coated with nonstick cooking spray. Top with three noodles, half of the sausage mixture, half of the spinach mixture and 1 cup sauce; repeat layers. Top with remaining noodles and sauce. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese.

5. Cover and bake at 375° for 40 minutes. Uncover; bake 15-20 minutes longer or until heated through and top is lightly browned. Let stand for 10 minutes before cutting.

MY NOTES AND THOUGHTS:

1. Yup - lots of ingredients, lots of steps, lots of pots. But hey, it's lasagna! :) And this one is worth it.

2. The original used LF cream cheese and cottage cheese, but I used FF and it was fine. It also called for only 1 lb of turkey sausage, but mine come pre-packaged in 20 oz, so I wasn't about to leave 4 oz of sausage hanging around.

3. I put foil under it as it baked because I was worried about it dripping over, but it didn't at all.

4. If you want bigger pieces - 10 servings will be 7 pts each and 8 servings will be 9 pts each.

This recipe is from the Light and Tasty, the August/September 2006 edition.

From MC - Per Serving @ 12 servings: 283 Calories; 10g Fat (31.1% calories from fat); 23g Protein; 25g Carbohydrate; 3g Dietary Fiber; 55mg Cholesterol; 742mg Sodium. Exchanges: 0 Grain(Starch); 1 Lean Meat; 1 Vegetable; 0 Non-Fat Milk; 1/2 Fat; 0 Other Carbohydrates.

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