CI: Light Meat & Cheese lasagna

While this recipe is certainly not “presto,”

I’m presenting if for Ruth’s wonderful Presto Pasta Night!!!

Check her blog for a roung-up next friday!

It has become somewhat of a tradition that every Friday, when SouthernDrawl returns from his business trips, I make him some sort of dinner. Yesterday, I made him a meat lasagna. I wanted to keep it on the non-heart attack range, so I looked up recipes in Cook’s Illustrated “Best Light Recipe.” Like many out there, I have a dysfunctional love-sometimes-annoyance relationship with CI. While I generally like the recipes (not always love) and the instructional nature of the books/magazine, the section that describes recipe “testing” tends to be pedantic and slightly condescending (maybe I’m imagining things!). Last but not least, I think that there are many ways to make a recipe, none of which is necessarily “the best.” Making such claims is over-the-top. But despite my protests, I am guilty of (gasp) subscribing to their magazine and owning a couple of the ir cookbooks!

But that is not here nor there, as this recipe was a hit – with some modifications (shhhh!!! don’t tell CI, they might send the recipe cops after me!). It was time-consuming, but not hard – as is the case with most lasagnas. SouthernDrawl loved the result and even had seconds. I served it with bread and a salad.

If there’s anything that I would do differently next time, it’s to make a little more sauce – it was a tad dry for my taste, and I thought there could have been more tomatoes.

Here’s the recipe with my modifications (in purple) and here’s a link to the original, unadulterated recipe.

LOW FAT MEAT AND CHEESE LASAGNA

Adapted from: The Best Light Recipe cookbook (America’s Test Kitchen, 2006).

This recipe can be completely prepared in advance – assemble the lasagna, tightly cover with plastic wrap, put in refrigerator. When it’s time to cook, remove plastic wrap, replace with foil, and add about 5 minutes to the cooking time.

CI recommends Ronzoni instant noodles. I have tried the Barilla as well as the Ronzoni and found that I liked the thickness of the Ronzoni, but preferred the taste of Barilla. Go figure!!

They also recommend Muir Glenn organic tomatoes & Sargento pre-shredded mozzarella.

Sauce
2 cans (each 28 oz/796 ml) diced tomatoes, undrained (I used 1 can diced, 1 can crushed and skipped the “processing step.” Less stuff to wash=better!)
1 onion, minced
1 tsp (5 ml) olive oil
Salt
6 garlic cloves, minced or pressed through a garlic press (about 2 tbsp/30 ml)
2 tbsp (30 ml) tomato paste (I used 3 TBSP)
1/4 tsp (1 ml) red pepper flakes
1 lb (500 g) lean ground turkey (I used 12 oz mild Italian chicken sausage *, removed from casings, and 1/3 lb ground turkey)
1 cup (250 ml) low-sodium chicken broth(I used 1/2 cup broth and 1/2 cup red wine)
2 bay leaves
1/2 cup (125 ml) minced fresh basil leaves (I used 1/4 cup and it was plenty because the sausage had a lot of flavors going on)
Ground black pepper

For Filling and Pasta Layers
1 lb (500 g) fat-free ricotta cheese (I used one container, 15oz.**)
3/4 lb (350 g) reduced-fat mozzarella cheese, shredded (about 3 cups/750 ml)
1 oz (30 g) Parmesan cheese, grated (about 1/2 cup/125 ml)
1/2 cup (125 ml) minced fresh basil leaves (I omitted this)
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/2 tsp (2 ml) salt
1/2 tsp (2 ml) ground black pepper
dash of freshly ground nutmeg
Vegetable oil spray
12 no-boil lasagna noodles from one 8-oz (250-g) pkg

Sauce:
Process 1 can of tomatoes with their juices in a food processor until almost smooth, about 5 seconds. (I skipped this step – just bought 1 can crushed tomatoes). In a large non-stick skillet, combine onion, oil and 1/2 tsp (2 ml) salt. Cover and cook over medium-low heat until softened, 8 to 10 minutes.

Stir in garlic, tomato paste and pepper flakes and cook until garlic is fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in half of the ground turkey and cook, breaking the meat into small pieces with a wooden spoon, until the meat loses its raw colour but has not browned, about 4 minutes. (I did not add the sausage or turkey at this point. I browned it separately at the end, and added it to the sauce in the last step.) Add pureed tomatoes, remaining can of diced tomatoes with their juices, broth and bay leaves. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until flavours are blended and sauce is thickened, about 45 minutes.

Stir remaining turkey into sauce and continue to simmer, stirring occasionally, until sauce measures about 6 cups (1.5 l), 20 to 30 minutes (As mentioned above, I added all the meat at this point) . Remove bay leaves and stir in basil. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Filling:
In a large bowl, mix together ricotta, 2 cups (500 ml) of the mozzarella, Parmesan, basil, egg, nutmeg, salt and pepper until thoroughly combined (you should have about 3 cups/750 ml of filling).

To assemble and bake: Adjust an oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 F (190 C).

Spray a 13-by-9-inch (3.5 l) baking dish with vegetable oil spray.

Spread 1-1/2 cups (375 ml) of the sauce evenly over bottom of baking dish.

Lay 3 lasagna noodles on top of the sauce, spaced evenly apart. (Don’t worry if they don’t touch each other or the borders of the pan – they will expand as they cook!) Place 1/3 cup (75 ml) of the filling on top of each noodle and spread it out evenly over the entire noodle using a rubber spatula. Spread 1 cup (250 ml) of the sauce evenly over the filling. Repeat this layering twice more.

Lay remaining 3 noodles over top. Spread remaining 1-1/2 cups (375 ml) sauce evenly over noodles, making sure to cover edges. Spray a large piece of foil with vegetable oil spray and cover lasagna tightly. (I used Reynold’s Quick Release)

Place lasagna pan on a rimmed baking sheet and bake for 45 minutes. Remove foil and sprinkle lasagna evenly with remaining 1 cup (250 ml) mozzarella. Continue to bake, uncovered, until cheese is bubbling and slightly brown, 10 to 15 minutes longer (it took less than 10 min in my oven). Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack for at least 15 minutes before serving.

Makes 10 servings.

{Nutrition information per serving if made according to original recipes: 340 calories, 10 g total fat (4 g saturated), 70 mg cholesterol, 31 g carbohydrate, 29 g protein, 1 g fibre, 1,110 mg sodium.}

* I used Hain sausage available @ Whole Foods. It was a royal pain to get them out of the casing and chopping them up, so for the sake of your sanity, I would reserve these for some other use…

** There was no way I was going to buy another container just to make up 1oz. This is the type of stuff that annoys me about CI!)

QUESTION OF THE DAY: WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LASAGNA? ANY THOUGHTS ON COOK’S ILLUSTRATED?