Classic Light Lasagna - Recipe Girl (2024)

You’re going to want to stick around for this delicious recipe for Classic Light Lasagna.

Classic Light Lasagna - Recipe Girl (1)

We had some special family members visiting our house last week- my (chef) nephew, his wife and their adorable 22-month-old daughter. I love having people staying with us because that gives me an opportunity to think up a delicious menu, pop open the good wine, and eat in our rarely-touched-but-much-loved dining room! My nephew cooks a LOT when he’s working on the Idaho Ranch where he plans all of the menus and food that his ranch guests eat, so I wanted him to relax and enjoy some home-cooked meals. Lasagna seemed like the perfect comfort-food meal for us all. A light lasagna was an even better choice!

Classic Light Lasagna - Recipe Girl (2)

The recipe comes from David Joachim’s book: Global Kitchen: The World’s Most Delicious Food Made Easy (a collaboration with Cooking Light). I first met David last year in Las Vegas when we were judging the Pillsbury Bake Off together. I came to learn that he’s an extremely talented recipe developer who has written dozens of cookbooks. In fact, Global Kitchen is his 40th cookbook. I can’t imagine writing that many cookbooks, but he’s a talented guy who knows how to do this!

Joachim consulted food experts for this book, and it includes recipes from around the globe. I’m personally enjoying it because it’s pushing me out of my day-to-day comfort zone and into trying out some international dishes for a change. You’ll find things like Steamed Pork Buns and Tandoori Grilled Chicken(East Asia and India), Chicken-Coconut Soup and Lamingtons (Southeast Asia and Australia), Baba Ghanoush and Cape Malay Curry (The Middle East and Africa), Apple Strudel and Ukrainian Borschch (Europe and Eurasia), Argentinean Pork and Dulce de Leche Flan (South America), and Huevos Rancheros and Pulled Pork Barbecue Sandwiches (North and Central America). There are so many interesting dishes shared in this book, and there are big beautiful photographs of them all too. Every recipe includes nutritional information. It’s a good one to have on your cookbook shelf.

Classic Light Lasagna - Recipe Girl (3)

This light lasagna begins with a homemade sauce that utilized vegetables, ground turkey (I used 93% lean) and a little bit of pancetta.. I loved the sauce so much that I will be making it again all by itself to have with other pasta! The lasagna is layered with a simple ricotta/mozzarella/egg mixture, the sauce and cooked noodles, and then it’s baked for just 35 minutes.

Classic Light Lasagna - Recipe Girl (4)

It turned out SO good. I’m pretty sure it was the sauce that put it over the top. Everything about it said “This is a really good homemade lasagna!” And nothing about it said, “This totally tastes like a lighter lasagna.” It was perfect in every way. I believe even my fancy schmancy chef nephew and his wife werehappy with it too. Their 22-month old hadit for lunch the next day and was gobbling it up! Sometimes the simplest comfort food is the best choice for guests!

A link to the Weight Watchers WW Points is included in the recipe card below.

The Best Pasta Recipes:

  • One Pot Sausage Pasta
  • Skillet Pasta Carbonara
  • Garlic Parmesan Pasta
  • Chicken Pasta Primavera
  • Creamy Sausage Mushroom Pasta

Classic Light Lasagna - Recipe Girl (5)

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Classic Light Lasagna

No one will know this lasagna is lightened up!

Recipe Details

Prep Time: 40 minutes mins

Cook Time: 1 hour hr 10 minutes mins

Total Time: 1 hour hr 50 minutes mins

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: Lasagna, light lasagna

Servings: 8 servings

Calories: 368kcal

Author: RecipeGirl.com (reprinted with permission from Oxmoor House’s Global Kitchen by David Joachim)

Ingredients

SAUCE:

  • cups coarsely chopped onion
  • ¾ cup coarsely chopped celery
  • ½ cup coarsely chopped carrot
  • 4 medium garlic cloves, peeled
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon unsalted tomato paste
  • 1 ounce diced pancetta
  • 1 pound 99% lean ground turkey breast
  • ¼ cup white wine
  • ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
  • ¾ teaspoon crushed red pepper
  • ½ teaspoon dried oregano
  • ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 cup 1% low fat milk
  • ½ cup chopped fresh basil
  • One 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes, undrained
  • cooking spray
  • cups part skim ricotta cheese
  • 6 ounces (1½ cups) shredded part skim mozzarella cheese, divided
  • 1 large egg, lightly beaten
  • 6 cooked lasagna noodles

Instructions

PREPARE THE SAUCE:

  1. Place the onion, celery, carrot and garlic in a food processor; pulse until coarsely ground.

  2. Heat a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the oil to the pan; swirl to coat. Add the tomato paste and pancetta; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add the turkey, and cook 4 minutes, stirring to crumble.

  3. Add the wine; cook 2 minutes or until the liquid evaporates, scraping the pan to loosen the browned bits. Add the onion mixture, salt, red pepper, oregano and black pepper to the pan, and cook 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the milk and basil; cook 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the tomatoes; reduce the heat, and simmer for 20 minutes.

MAKE THE FILLING:

  1. In a medium bowl, combine the ricotta, mozzarella and egg.

ASSEMBLE THE LASAGNA:

  1. Preheat oven to 425°F. Spray a 13x9 inch glass or ceramic baking dish with nonstick spray.

  2. Spread ¾ cup of the sauce in the bottom of the prepared dish. Arrange 3 noodles over the sauce; top with half of the remaining sauce and half of the ricotta mixture (I spooned it on and gently spread it over the noodles). Repeat the layers once, ending with the ricotta mixture. Sprinkle the remaining ½ cup mozzarella evenly over the top.

  3. Bake for 35 minutes. If your cheese is not golden brown already, you can preheat the broiler and broil the lasagna for 2 minutes (mine was already toasted, so I skipped this step). Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving, Calories: 368kcal, Carbohydrates: 28g, Protein: 28g, Fat: 16g, Saturated Fat: 7g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g, Monounsaturated Fat: 6g, Trans Fat: 0.1g, Cholesterol: 85mg, Sodium: 652mg, Potassium: 737mg, Fiber: 4g, Sugar: 9g, Vitamin A: 2859IU, Vitamin C: 16mg, Calcium: 426mg, Iron: 4mg

Classic Light Lasagna - Recipe Girl (2024)

FAQs

What not to do when making lasagna? ›

Too much between one layer and another will keep you from ever getting a perfect slice. Too little and all you'll taste is pasta. Do not put large pieces of vegetables or meat in lasagna for the same reason as above. To get a perfect lasagna, the filling should be finely sliced or even creamy.

Why should you not cover lasagna in a metal pan with foil? ›

So when you see holes in the foil covering a pan of tomato sauce, you are looking at areas where the pan has stolen electrons from the foil, converting the aluminum atoms into a substance that can dissolve in the sauce. The tomato sauce is serving as the getaway car in an electron heist masterminded by the steel pan.

What makes lasagna taste better? ›

Five Secrets of Building the Ultimate Lasagna
  1. Secret #1: No-Boil Noodles Actually Taste Better. ...
  2. Secret #2: For a Rich Sauce, Use Pork Sausage Instead of Ground Beef. ...
  3. Secret #3: Fresh Mozzarella Actually Makes a Difference.
Jan 6, 2015

Why do you put milk in lasagna? ›

The secret ingredient? Milk. It tenderises the meat, to leave you with the most tender ragù. Use a deep dish and find out how to layer a lasagne.

Do you bake lasagna at 350 or 375? ›

Assemble the lasagna in an oven-safe container and store it in the refrigerator. The temperature should be at or below 40 degrees. When you are ready to cook the lasagna, bake it in the oven for approximately 60 minutes at 375 degrees.

Should I bake lasagna in a glass or aluminum pan? ›

Aluminum vs. Glass: Glass pans offer the advantage of seeing the layers as they cook but generally require longer cooking times. Aluminum pans cook faster due to better heat conductivity.

Does lasagna cook better in glass or metal? ›

Glass pans are the way to go

For a lasagna that looks amazing and tastes great, it's important to skip the metal pan and go straight for the glass bakeware. Glass baking pans obviously don't contain aluminum, so you can layer your sauce, noodles, and cheese without worrying about losing flavor to a chemical reaction.

Why add tomato paste to lasagna? ›

A good tomato paste helps to thicken but also adds a sweet and savory umami flavor. Lean Ground Beef: Lean beef adds a robust and hearty meatiness that's essential in a classic lasagna recipe.

What is the lasagna noodle trick? ›

Place your dry noodles in the water, making sure they're all equally submerged, and let them soak for about 20 minutes. Let this go while making your sauce or preheating the oven, and it shaves off all the extra time you'd spend boiling them.

How many layers does authentic lasagna have? ›

Generally, lasagna has about 3 or 4 layers of pasta, with sauce, ricotta cheese, mozzarella, béchamel, and sometimes meat or even meatballs or sausage between those layers. Our many layer lasagna has around 12 layers of pasta, or even more depending on how thin you end up rolling the dough.

What is the best order to layer lasagna? ›

Begin Layering

After the initial sauce layer, add a layer of pasta sheets, ricotta mixture (or bechamel), sauce, and cheese. Then repeat the layers. Top the last layer of your lasagna with sauce and cheese. You can also alternate layers of sauce and ricotta cheese.

Is there a wrong way to make lasagna? ›

The number one reason lasagna turns out soupy is, quite simply, too much sauce. There is such a thing as too much of a good thing, and this is it. To avoid baked lasagna swimming in sauce, use enough sauce to cover each layer but don't go overboard. Wet ingredients are another reason lasagna turns watery.

Is there a wrong way to layer lasagna? ›

The best way to layer your lasagna is to start with a layer of red sauce, follow it up with a layer of white sauce, then pasta, then cheese. Follow this pattern until you've filled your tray.

Should you bake lasagna covered or not? ›

If uncovered, the prolonged exposure to heat will quickly dry out your lasagna, no matter how much sauce you've added. Make sure to always add a layer of tin foil over your baking dish, which will trap the moisture inside while still allowing the dish to cook properly.

How to make your lasagne better? ›

7 Secrets for Making Better Lasagna
  1. Treat Your Pasta Right.
  2. Follow the Proper Method for Boiling Noodles.
  3. Decide on Ricotta.
  4. Consider Your Layering Strategy.
  5. Leave Top Sheet Overhangs for Crispy Magic.
  6. Err on the Side of Under-Baking.
  7. Make Extra Sauce for Serving.
Jul 21, 2022

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