Recipe: Turkey Bolognese Lasagna

This Turkey Bolognese Lasagna is some seriously hearty (yet, somewhat light) comfort food. Start with the flavorful turkey bolognese (complete with tomatoes, herbs and white wine) sauce, spoon on the creamy Béchamel and pile up the chopped spinach and you’ve got one luscious lasagna.

Ingredients

Turkey Bolognese

1 large red onion, chopped
3 celery stalks, chopped
2 large carrots, peeled and chopped
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1 rosemary stem, leaves removed, chopped
¼ cup chopped Italian flat leaf parsley
2 tsp dried oregano
¼ tsp dried red pepper flakes
2 lb. ground turkey
1½ tsp kosher salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 cup whole milk
1 cup dry white wine
1 (5.5oz) tin tomato paste
2 (28oz) tins diced tomatoes

Bechamel Sauce

¼ cup butter
¼ cup flour
2 cups whole milk
1 tsp kosher salt
¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper

2 (300g) packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed with water and squeezed very dry

1½ cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese

12 oven-ready lasagna noodles

Directions

1) For the Turkey Bolognese sauce, combine the red onion, celery, carrots, garlic, rosemary, parsley, oregano and red pepper flakes in a food processor. Pulse 4 to 5 times, scraping down the sides of the bowl until vegetables are chopped well. Place chopped vegetables in a large pot and combine with ground turkey. Cook over medium heat, breaking up the turkey as it cooks. Once turkey mixture comes to a boil, season with salt and pepper and reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes. Increase heat to high and add milk. Reduce for 8 minutes, stirring constantly until most of the milk is absorbed. Add wine and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in tomato paste and diced tomatoes and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally and cooking until thickened.

2) For the Béchamel, using a small saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. Add the flour a small amount at a time, whisking quickly and constantly. Add milk, increase heat to medium and whisk constantly until sauce has thickened and is smooth. Season the béchamel with salt and pepper.

3) To assemble the lasagna, preheat oven to 375ºF and coat a 13×9-inch baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. Spread 1½ cups Turkey Bolognese on the bottom of the baking dish. Top with 4 lasagna noodles, 2 cups Bolognese, ¾ cup béchamel sauce, ½ cup parmesan cheese and ½ of spinach. Top with 4 more noodles, another 2 cups Bolognese, ¾ cup béchamel sauce, ½ cup Parmesan cheese and remaining spinach. Finish with remaining 4 lasagna noodles and cover with 2 cups Bolognese, remaining béchamel and ½ cup Parmesan cheese. Bake uncovered for 40 minutes.

Serves 8

Authors of bestselling cookbooks Bite Me and Bite Me Too, saucy sisters Julie Albert and Lisa Gnat love eating, feeding, entertaining and dishing up easy recipes and forkin’ fun at BiteMeMore.com.