Cheesy Cabbage Noodle Turkey Lasagna
I have lots of recipes to share with you! Last week was a busy one as I scrambled to finish up my first semester of grad school. It’s always stressful when nearly 50% of your grade is determined in the final week, but I managed to just barely get an ‘A’ in my second class, which definitely exceeded my expectations given my “maybe I should drop this class because I’m going to fail!” pronouncement after week 1. I’ve also been volunteering with some awesome local projects and got to spend two afternoons last week cooking with kiddos! So I’ve been busy, but enjoying it.
Last weekend I completed the Georgetown 10-miler 2-day challenge, which was parts 3 and 4 of my “five in five weeks” challenge. For me this was mentally challenging more than anything. Saturday was hot by the 9:30 start time and the trail has very little shade. The water stations were non-strategically placed near miles one and two, and assuming there would be water later in the race I skipped them both, making for a very thirsty eight miles. On Sunday I could definitely feel that I had much more in me cardiovascularly, but muscularly I could only push so far. Although much slower than I’ve been running, I was surprised to finish fairly consistently at 1:25:35 on Saturday and 1:26:27 on Sunday. As the ironic unpredictability of small races would have it, had I run Saturday’s pace on Sunday I would have placed in female division, and my PR would have easily won! You can’t compare apples to oranges though, as a secluded trail race just isn’t the same as a road race where you are practically carried by the momentum of a cheering crowd and a field of runners. I took this weekend to taste wine, go antiquing and eat penis-shaped food in honor of my friend Ashley’s upcoming nuptials, but next weekend I’ll be back at it in Philly running Broad Street.
How does one transition from that to lasagna? This is a great dish if you’re trying to lighten things up for summer. Really, it’s somewhere between lasagna and cabbage rolls. It was incredibly tasty, and loaded with protein. One word of advice: I usually ignore the “let it sit” step at the end of recipes… don’t do that. The cabbage makes this fairly watery, and you will have a much more successful time cutting it into pretty squares if you let it sit, trust me!
Cheesy Cabbage Noodle Turkey Lasagna
Adapted from Karla’s Nordic Kitchen
Ingredients:
- 16 oz. lean ground turkey
- 1 large yellow onion
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 (15 oz) can diced tomatoes
- 2 tbsp2 tomato paste
- 1 tbsp oregano
- 1 tbsp thyme
- 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- red pepper flakes, to taste
- 16 oz fat free ricotta
- 1 tsp nutmeg
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 6 oz grated mozzarella
- 1 large head green cabbage
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 375 °F and grease a 9″ square baking dish.
- Take out the bottom of the core of the cabbage. Place the whole cabbage into a large pot of simmering water. The leaves will begin to separate from the cabbage. As they do, remove one at a time and transfer to a colander. Go through the leaves and pick out about 15 large, intact leaves. Transfer to a paper towel and let cool.
- Put olive oil in a large skillet and heat over medium. Add the onion and garlic and sauté slowly until golden and transparent.
- Add the turkey and brown well. Add diced tomatoes, tomato paste and dried spices and let simmer for 5-10 minutes.
- Add apple cider vinegar, balsamic vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper and simmer for a few minutes.
- Meanwhile mix the ricotta with fresh grated nutmeg and black pepper.
- In the baking dish, spoon a layer of meat sauce followed by a layer of cabbage and a layer of ricotta. Repeat, ending with a layer of cabbage topped with just a bit of meat sauce. Sprinkle with mozzarella.
- Bake lasagna in the oven for approx. 35 minutes. Broil for a few minutes until browned and bubbling.
- Take lasagna out and let stand for approximately 10 minutes before serving.
6 Servings
