This lasagna is so cheesy, delicious, and filling. Add a large salad, and you’ve got a complete, hearty, family-friendly meal that everyone will love!
For timesaving and convenience purposes, the recipe’s noodles and meat sauce can both be prepared a day or two in advance and stored as described in the recipe below.
Yield: 12 large squares
Serving size: 1 square
Ingredients for the lasagna noodles (makes three batches/layers):
- 9 large eggs
- 12 oz (340.2g) softened cream cheese
- 3 cups (127.5g) raw baby spinach
- 1 1/2 (168g) cups shredded whole milk mozzarella
- 1 1/2 tsp. (1.05g) dried basil
Ingredients for the filling:
- 2 tbsp. (28g) extra virgin olive oil
- 2 lb. (907.18g) ground turkey or ground chicken
- 1 1/4 cups (282.5g) no sugar added marinara sauce
- 5 oz (141.75g) extra sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
- 5 oz (141.75g) fontina cheese, shredded
- 2 oz (56.7g) whole milk mozzarella, shredded
- 1 large egg
- 2 1/2 cups (575g) sour cream
- 1 1/2 cups (369g) whole milk ricotta cheese
- 1 tbsp. (15g) heavy whipping cream
- 1 tbsp. (14.8g) water
- 1 tsp. (6g) salt
- 1/4 tsp. (0.58g) ground black pepper
- 1/8 tsp. (0.24g) ground mustard seed
- 1/8 tsp. (0.28g) paprika
- 1/2 tsp. (0.25g) dried parsley
- a pinch of nutmeg
Directions to make the noodles:
For convenience, the lasagna noodles can be made a day or two ahead of time and stored in a covered container between layers of parchment paper in the refrigerator.
- Line a 14.5″ x 11″ (35.83 cm x 27.94 cm) non-stick pan with parchment paper, and preheat the oven to 325° F (163°C)
- Place 3 of the eggs, 4 oz of the softened cream cheese, 1 cup of the baby spinach, 1/2 cup of the shredded mozzarella, and 1/2 tsp. of the dried basil into the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade.
- Blend until the mixture becomes a liquid, for about 2 minutes. (It’s normal to see tiny green specks in the liquid.)
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Use a spatula to spread it evenly across the entire pan.
- Bake in the center of the preheated oven for about 12 minutes or until the batter firms up.
- While the first batch of batter is baking, prepare the next batch by repeating steps 1-4.
- When the first batch comes out of the oven, place it on a cooling rack to cool for 10 minutes.
- Place the second batch of batter into the oven, and repeat the above steps one more time, with the remaining ingredients.
- After each layer of noodles has cooled, lay them on a cutting board, paper side up, and carefully remove the paper. Slice each sheet of lasagna noodles across the short way to create three fat noodles per sheet.
Directions for making the fillings and assembling the lasagna:
- Preheat the oven to 350° F. (178°C)
- Place the sour cream, paprika, ground mustard seed, and nutmeg into a three-quart saucepan.
- Cook over medium heat while stirring constantly until the sour cream begins to melt.
- Add half of the cheddar cheese and half of the fontina to the pan.
- Continue to stir and cook until the cheese has melted. The sauce should be thick. Remove the cheese sauce from the heat to cool.
- While the sauce cools, make the meat sauce as follows next. (As with the noodles, the meat sauce can also be made a day or two ahead and stored in a covered container in the refrigerator until needed.)
- Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Cook the ground chicken or turkey in the hot oil, stirring often until browned and cooked through.
- Drain the oil and mix in the marinara sauce. Set aside for now.
- Spread 3/4 cup (approx. 150g) of the cheese sauce evenly across the bottom of a 15″ x 10″ lasagna pan and reserve another 3/4 cup of this sauce for topping the lasagna with later.
- Add the ricotta cheese, black pepper, one egg, parsley, and 3/4 tsp. of salt to the remaining cheese sauce. Mix well to combine.
- Lay three noodles across the short way, next to each other, on top of the sauce in the lasagna pan.
- Top the noodles evenly with half of the meat sauce.
- Spoon half of the ricotta mixture in an even layer across the top of the meat. Use the back of a spoon or a rubber spatula to smooth and even out the ricotta mixture.
- Sprinkle the ricotta mixture with 1/3 of the remaining cheddar and fontina.
- Lay three more noodles across the top of the lasagna in the same manner as before. Top with the remaining meat sauce and ricotta mixture. Sprinkle with half of the remaining cheddar and fontina.
- Top with the final layer of noodles.
- Get reserved cheese sauce from earlier. Mix in the cream, water, and 1/4 tsp. of salt. Spread this mixture evenly across the top of the noodles. Make sure to cover the edges of the noodles with sauce.
- Sprinkle the rest of the cheddar and fontina, along with the mozzarella, across the top of the lasagna.
- Cover tightly with foil and bake for 60 minutes in the oven until the sauce is bubbly and the cheese has melted.
- Uncover the lasagna and continue to bake for another 20-25 minutes until the cheese has turned a light golden brown.
- Remove the lasagna from the oven.
- Let stand for 10 minutes before cutting and serving.
- Leftovers may be stored in a covered container in the fridge or frozen and reheated on a future date.
Nutritional Information Per Serving
Calories 620 Total Fat 51g Total Carbs 6g Protein 35g