White, Green and Red Lasagna

It was Sunday night and I really didn't want to go to the grocery store, so I sat and stared into my fridge hoping that a dinner idea would pop into my head. After a few minutes it dawned on me... a white Lasagna. It isn't your traditional lasagna... white cheese sauce instead of marinara and ground turkey instead of ground beef. Still used pasta, veggies and cheese... and I thought it was awesome!

Turns out that the ricotta cheese I had was expired so I ended up going out to the grocery store but it worked out because we really needed milk and bread. This dish was easy to put together but it does have a lot of pans but the nice thing is you can make this ahead of time and then just pop it in the oven when you are ready to bake it. Next time I will use all of the cheese sauce in between the layers. I went skimpy thinking that it looked like to much, but once I pulled it out of the oven there was very little sauce.

For sauce
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter
1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup chopped onions

2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 cups milk

2 cups chicken broth

1 cup cheese (I used mozzarella)

For filling
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 container of frozen chopped spinach, thawed

1 package of ground turkey, cook in separate pan

3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon minced garlic
a 15-ounce container whole-milk ricotta (about 1 3/4 cups)
1 large egg
1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil
Lasagna noodles, cooked

1 tomato thinly sliced

1 zucchini, thinly sliced

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan (about 1 1/2 ounces)

Preparation

Make sauce:In a saucepan melt butter over moderately low heat. Stir in flour and cook roux, stirring, 3 minutes. Add milk/chicken broth in a stream and bring mixture to a boil, whisking until thick and smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste and simmer sauce over low heat, whisking occasionally, 10 to 12 minutes, or until thickened. Add cheese, melt through. I kept mine on low heat until I was ready for it.

Preheat oven to 350°F. and butter a 13 x 9-inch baking dish (3-quart). Add a little of the cheese sauce to the bottom of the pan.

In a bowl whisk together ricotta, egg, basil, spinach, and salt and pepper to taste. Pour 1/2 cup reserved sauce into baking dish (sauce will not cover bottom completely) and cover with 3 pasta sheets. Spread half of ground turkey, zucchini slices, and tomato slices over pasta sheets in dish, then scoop some of the cheese sauce over this mixture and top with another 3 pasta sheets. Spread half of ricotta mixture over pasta and top with another 3 pasta sheets. There is no hard rule of what toppings can be together or how many pasta sheets you use, so have fun with it :)

Spread remaining sauce over top and sprinkle with Parmesan. Lasagna may be made 1 day ahead and chilled, covered. Bake lasagna in middle of oven 45 minutes, or until bubbling and golden.