tausagna

I fleetingly thought of calling this dish “Bob’s Lasagna,” but I then immediately recalled that Bob Lasagna was a tenor who sang the National Anthem at Dodger games and frequented the local piano bar scene in the 1970s. Some of my opera singing friends referred to his voice as being of the “constipato” variety. I certainly did not want my Lasagna to connote any form of such retentiveness.

The recipe below is fairly classic, except that lower fat and lower carbohydrate ingredients have been used.

• 4 lower G. I. lasagna noodles
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 lb lean ground turkey
• 1 tbsp sausage mix †
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 (8-oz) canned marinara spaghetti sauce
• 1 carrot, diced
• 1 stalk celery, diced
• ½ cup mushrooms, diced
• 1 tbsp leaf oregano
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp fennel seeds
• <salt>
• pepper
• ½ cup cottage cheese
• ½ cup ricotta cheese
• 1 egg, beaten lightly
• ½ cup fontina cheese, grated
• ½ cup mozzarella cheese, grated
• ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese

Cook the pasta according to package directions, drain, lightly oil to keep from sticking together, and set aside for later use.

Brown and crumble the turkey in the olive oil. Add the onion, carrot, celery, and mushrooms and continue to cook until limp. Add the sausage mix, spaghetti sauce, herbs, <salt> and pepper to taste, and mix well.

In a separate bowl combine ricotta cheese and egg.

Grate the fontina and mozzarella cheese in a food processor to which the Parmesan cheese has been added to keep the blade from sticking.

In a 9” greased square pan, put down a light layer of the spaghetti sauce and then layer the sauce, noodle, meat sauce, cottage cheese and ricotta, and grated cheeses, in that order, repeating until the pan is filled. Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 375°F for 40 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 10 minutes. Cool a little before serving.