Lasagna Without The Noodles

When you think lasagna you usually picture a heavy entree with noodles, cheese and sauce. Scratch that thought!!

For dinner tonight I made eggplant lasagna with tomatoes, spices, skim mozzarella & of course eggplant.

The is the 1st time making the dish but it immediately became a new favorite as it is full of flavor and very filling. I'm honestly not a huge pasta fan but on rare occasion when I'm looking to indulge I'm all for a tomato-y dish and this one that incorporates ground turkey & ricotta cheese (who would complain about the extra protein?!?).

Serve this delicious and healthy casserole with a salad of mixed greens or fennel & apple salad and you've got a well-balanced meal.

Enjoy!!

Ingredients:

·         1 lb ground turkey or chicken

·         2 minced garlic cloves

·         1 (8oz) can of tomato sauce

·         1 (32oz) can of chopped tomatoes (or Italian herbs added canned tomatoes)

·         ½ tsp of salt

·         ½ tsp of pepper

·         ¼ tsp oregano

·         ¼ tsp cayenne pepper (optional)

·         1 Eggplant (peeled and sliced)

·         1 small container of fat free cottage cheese

·         8 oz sliced fat free mozzarella cheese

·         Pam cooking spray

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Brown the ground turkey with the garlic in a saucepan coated with Pam cooking spray. Add the tomato sauce and canned tomatoes, stirring and chopping tomatoes with the spoon. Add the salt, pepper, and oregano; stir, cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes.

Layer eggplant, cottage cheese, turkey sauce and mozzarella in a baking dish. Add second layer of eggplant and then sauce and mozzarella. (repeat til no more ingredients with last layer of mozzarella) Bake in oven for 30 minutes.

**Nutrients per serving: Calories-304; Fat-4g; Carbs-23g; Protein-53g