Spiced Turkey Lasagna with Butternut Squash Noodles (+Beware of Mandolines!)

I really loved this recipe.  What I don’t really love?  Mandolines.  Those things are straight-up dangerous.  Seriously, they need to come with dexterity checks and “you will at some point lose a sizable chunk of your finger” warnings.

I posted this picture on Facebook (because I obviously have no qualms about oversharing) and had no less than ten friends comment that they had experienced a similar injury.  So please, before you make this invest in a pair of cut resistant gloves.  I bought two, one for me and one for my mom; finger-self-hate seems to be one of the many things I’ve inherited from her.

Spiced Turkey Butternut Squash Lasagna

Adapted from Cooking on the Weekends

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion
• 3 cloves minced garlic
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon allspice
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1-pound ground turkey
• 1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomato
• 1 butternut squash  (approximately 3-pounds)
• 2 cups fat free ricotta cheese
• 8 oz shredded light mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1 large egg
• 2-1/2 cups fresh spinach leaves
• Salt and pepper, to taste

To prepare the butternut squash:

1. Peel the quash and cut off the ends.  Cut the squash in half, horizontally and scoop out the seeds.  Then use a Mandoline, on a very thin slicing setting, to cut the squash vertically. Slices will not all be the same size and many will be irregularly shaped – that’s okay. (If you don’t have a Mandoline, you can use a very sharp Chef’s knife to make thin slices.)
2. Steam the squash for about five minutes, or until just tender.  You may want to do this in two batches, depending on the size of your steaming vessel. Set aside to cool.

To make the sauce:

1. Coat the bottom of a large sauté pan with olive oil and place it over medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic to the pan. Sauté, stirring every so often, until the onions are golden brown, about 10 minutes.
2. Stir in the balsamic vinegar, cinnamon and all spice, and sauté for another couple of minutes.
3. Move the onion mixture to the side of the pan.  Add the ground turkey, stirring and breaking up the into smaller pieces, until cooked.  Blend everything together.
4. Add the tomato and stir to blend.  Simmer for a few minutes and season with salt and pepper, to taste.

To assemble and bake:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  In a medium-sized mixing bowl mix the ricotta with the egg and nutmeg.
2. Add about 3/4 cup of the sauce to the bottom of a 9 X 13 baking pan, and spread it out evenly.
3. Cover the sauce with an even layer of slightly overlapping slices of squash.
4. Top with 1/3 of the remaining sauce.  Next dollop on about 1/2 of the ricotta mixture, and a sprinkling of about 1/3 of the mozzarella. Coat this with an even layer of about 1/2 of the spinach leaves. 
5. Starting with the squash, repeat this layering process once more, ending with a final layer of squash topped with just a bit of sauce and sprinkled with the remaining mozzarella.
6. Bake for 30 minutes. The edges should be bubbling, and the top should be golden brown.  If after 30 minutes, the top hasn’t browned, place the pan under the broiler for a minute or so, just to brown it.

Serves 8

Johanna