Turkey Lasagna With Spinach Cashew “Ricotta” and Zucchini

Servings: 8
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cooking Time: 30 minutes
Equipment needed: food processor or high-speed blender, hand held mixer or stand mixer with whisk attachment, 8×10 baking dish

Meat Sauce Ingredients:

1 onion, diced small
2 stalks celery, diced small
3 carrots, peeled and diced small
3 cloves garlic, minced or grated on a microplane
2 bay leaves
2-3 spicy turkey sausage from the deli (out of the casing)
1 pound ground organic turkey thigh
6 ounces tomato paste
12 ounces crushed tomatoes
1 Tbs dried oregano
1 cup loosely packed basil, chopped
1 Tbs olive oil

Spinach Cashew Ricotta Ingredients:

10 ounces frozen spinach, thawed and excess water squeezed out
2 cups cashew cheese (see recipe in week 13. Made without garlic or nutritional yeast)
¼ cup aquafaba (canned garbanzo bean liquid. See instructions below.)
juice of 2 lemons
salt to taste

Other Ingredients:

1 jar Rao’s tomato sauce (good brand without added sugar)
4 large zucchini, ends trimmed and peeled or cut into strips about ¼ inch thick

Make the zucchini strips: Trim the ends of the zucchini with a knife. Then, using a mandoline or vegetable peeler or knife to create ¼ inch thick strips. Discard the edge pieces that are mostly skin. These will act as the “noodles”. Place these strips in a large colander and lightly salt with about 1 tsp fine kosher salt. Let sit while you make the meat sauce and cashew filling.
Make the meat sauce: Heat 1 Tbs olive oil in a large skillet or medium pot over medium heat. Add the sausage and turkey and let brown, breaking up with a spoon until cooked thought – about 5-8 minutes. Remove from pan with a slotted spoon, leaving any oil or fat in the pan. Set aside
To the same pan, add the onions, celery and carrots and cook until soft about 10 minutes.
Add the garlic, bay leaves and oregano. Cook 1 more minute or until fragrant.
Add the tomato paste and sauté 2-3 more minutes stirring constantly to coat vegetables.
Add the diced tomatoes and basil bring to a simmer.
Add the meat back in, cover with a lid and let simmer for 15-20 minutes to let the flavors improve and sauce to cook down a little. Remove bay leaves before step 10.
Make the cashew cheese filling: To make the aquafaba, measure ¼ cup of the liquid from a can of garbanzo beans into a large mixing bowl (or the bowl of your stand mixer) Using a hand held mixer, whip the aquafaba for 6-8 minutes until whipped into a white froth sturdy enough that peaks form when you pull the mixer out.
Add the cashew cheese, and thawed and drained spinach, salt and lemon juice. Mix well. And add more salt if necessary.
Assemble: Before assembling, remove zucchini strips from the colander and lay out in a single layer on paper towels. Put more paper towels on top and press out all excess liquid. Wipe off any remaining liquid and salt.
Layer ½ of the tomato sauce on the bottom of the 8×10 dish. Then add 1 layer of zucchini strips (using about ½) close together so they’re touching but not overlapping. Then ½ the meat mixture (make sure no bay leaves) then ½ of the ricotta mix. Repeat with remaining zucchini, then remaining, meat mixture and remaining ricotta mixture. Top with remaining tomato sauce
Bake at 400F degrees for 30 minutes, slice and serve.

Note: This recipe also works with using eggplant instead of zucchini. To do so, trim ends off eggplant and slice as thin as possible, discarding the edge pieces that are all skin. Salt and sweat in a colander just like zucchini in step 1. Squeeze out excess water with paper towels just like in step 10. However, before assembling, you’ll want to pre-bake these by placing on parchment-lined cookie sheet and baking at 350F for 10 minutes.