We have a new addition to our family this week! A little grandson named Hunter! Mom and baby boy are doing great! Now I get to do what I do best. Serve up a bunch of love in the form of food! Every mother knows when she has done the hard work of bringing the precious little bundle of joy into the world, the last thing she wants to think about is how to feed the family. No worries, help is on the way!
For the most part this is not a family of picky eaters, except for Dad. In fact, little sister Caitlin is my dream child. She will eat anything! There is only one caveat to this, the whole gang ranges from mildly gluten sensitive, like me, to Mom with Celiac Disease. So it’s gluten free time.
Looking for gluten free products used to be such an ordeal. But now you can find so many things right on your grocery store shelves. I did run into a problem finding gluten free lasagna noodles at the last minute so I thought why not use the same idea of layering as lasagna, but use gluten free Penne noodles instead. Kind of fun for kids too. They love the shapes and it holds the sauce so nicely in the little noodle tubes! Not to mention it is so much easier than laying out the strips of lasagna noodles. We just dump and smooth the pasta layer. Everything should be this easy!
Vegetable Turkey Lasagna
Pre-heat oven to 350°F.
Bring a large pot of water to boil and then add salt. Add the Gluten Free Penne noodles and cook per the package.
Drain and set aside. I’m telling you, if you have never tried this gluten free pasta, you will be amazed at how great it is. It holds together like it’s “gluten full” cousin and tastes just like it too! No one will ever know you are serving gluten free pasta!
In a large skillet, sauté onion, carrots and celery (mirepoix) in a tablespoon of olive oil until vegetables are soft. Remove from skillet and set aside, reserving 1/4 of the mixture to add to the ricotta later.
In the same skillet, brown the turkey meat on medium-high heat. Season with salt and pepper.
Heat the tomato sauce and water in the large pot you used for the pasta. Add 3/4 of the sautéed vegetable mixture to the sauce.
Add the meat mixture. Stir until blended and simmer on low while making the ricotta mixture and veggie mixture.
Meanwhile, mix ricotta, reserved vegetable mixture, Italian herbs, salt, pepper and egg until blended. Set aside.
Saute zucchini in 1 tablespoon of olive oil until lightly browned, for extra flavor. Season with a little salt and pepper.
Add the spinach to the pan and saute until it is mostly wilted. Don’t overcook.
Add the pasta to the sauce and stir to combine.
Spread 1/2 of the pasta and meat sauce onto bottom of 13 x 9-inch baking dish. Love these foil casserole pans! No clean up and no pans to return to their owners! Great for the freezer too!
Top with 1/2 of the ricotta cheese mixture. Cheesy, veggie goodness!
Add a layer of zucchini and spinach. See how the spinach is slightly wilted but still has its shape. This will give you better flavor, spread farther and reveal a pretty green layer when you cut into the lasagna.
Sprinkle with a layer of mozzarella.
Repeat layers again. Top with remaining noodles and meat sauce, ricotta cheese mixture, vegetable mixture….
…..and sprinkle with more mozzarella. I mean really, let’s be honest here. It is the cheese that makes this great! Cover with foil sprayed with cooking spray to the cheese doesn’t stick to the foil.
While you’re at it, make one for your family or for the freezer. It’s just as easy to make one as it is to make two. And who can stand the fantastic smells wafting through the house knowing your masterpiece is going out the front door as a gift! You will have a mutiny on your hands if you don’t!
Bake for 45 minutes or until heated through, removing foil after 30 minutes so the cheese can brown. Let stand 15 minutes before cutting to serve.
Caitlin loves watermelon! Bags of salad to serve to with the lasagna and watermelon all cut up and ready to eat finished off the gift of food, with love!
- 12 ounce Barilla Gluten Free Penne noodles uncooked
- 1 large yellow onion, diced
- 1 large carrot, diced
- 2 ribs of celery, diced
- 1 pound ground turkey
- 1 can (32 ounce) tomato sauce
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 container (16 ounce) Part Skim Ricotta Cheese
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon Italian herb seasoning
- 2 large zucchini, medium dice
- 1 pound baby organic spinach
- 2-1/2 cups Shredded Low-Moisture Part-Skim Mozzarella Cheese, divided
- Pre-heat oven to 350°F.
- Bring a large pot of water to boil and then add salt. Add the Gluten Free Penne noodles and cook per the package. Drain and set aside.
- In a large skillet, sauté onion, carrots and celery in a tablespoon of olive oil until vegetables are soft. Remove from skillet and set aside, reserving 1/4 of the mixture to add to the ricotta later.
- In the same skillet, brown the turkey meat on medium-high heat.
- Add 3/4 of the sautéed vegetable mixture to the meat.
- Heat the tomato sauce and water in the large pot you used for the pasta. Add 3/4 of the sautéed vegetable mixture to the sauce.
- Add the meat mixture. Stir until blended and simmer on low while making the ricotta mixture and veggie mixture.
- Meanwhile, mix ricotta, reserved vegetable mixture, Italian herbs, salt, pepper and egg until blended. Set aside.
- Saute zucchini in 1 tablespoon of olive oil until lightly browned, for extra flavor. Season with a little salt and pepper.
- Add the spinach to the pan and saute until it is mostly wilted. Don’t overcook.
- Add the pasta to the sauce and stir to combine.
- Spread 1/2 of the pasta and meat sauce onto bottom of 13x9-inch baking dish.
- Top with 1/2 of the ricotta cheese mixture.
- Add a layer of zucchini and spinach.
- Sprinkle with a layer of mozzarella.
- Repeat layers again. Top with remaining noodles and meat sauce, ricotta cheese mixture, vegetable mixture and sprinkle with mozzarella. Cover with foil sprayed with cooking spray.
- Bake for 45 minutes or until heated through, removing foil after 30 minutes so the cheese can brown. Let stand 15 minutes before cutting to serve.
You are such a delight. Special food like that does seem a chore for a new mom .
Congratulations Michele on the addition to the family!! I love this recipe too,can’t wait to try it. Keep up the great work you are doing with your website, it’s AWESOME just like you!
Aww, thanks Jan! Food is my favorite thing to talk about! So glad you are enjoying the blog! Thanks for following along 🙂