I was visiting a friend a few weeks ago and she made a turkey lasagna while I was there and it was deeeelicious! (Bridget if you’re reading this, you inspired me! 🙂 ) So I was telling Jake how it was kind of weird because I have never ever made a lasagna of any kind before by myself. Later that same day we were watching the Food Network (ok I was watching and Jake was in agony, kidding) and the show that was on was making a white lasagna. Jake and I thought it was a sign from God and decided this was the lasagna I should take a stab at first. So here is the 1st lasagna I’ve ever made in my life.

White Sausage & Mushroom Lasagna

Ingredients

White Sauce:

3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 cups whole milk
3/4 cup finely grated Parmesan
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Lasagna:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1-1.5 pounds bulk spicy Italian turkey sausage
3/4 cup sliced button mushrooms
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons granulated garlic
15 ounces ricotta
1 large egg
1 cup finely grated Parmesan
Coarse salt
1 package no-boil lasagna noodles
2 small zucchini, thinly sliced
8 ounces shredded mozzarella
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

For the white sauce: Bring a medium saucepan to low-medium heat and add the butter. Once the butter is melted, stir in the flour with a wooden spoon; cook for 2 minutes (do not let it color). Add the milk and bring to a boil, continuing to stir. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 1 minute. Remove the saucepan from the heat. Add in the Parmesan, whisking to incorporate. Season with salt and pepper.

For the lasagna: In a skillet over medium-high heat, add the olive oil and cook the turkey sausage until just beginning to brown, about 4 minutes. Add the mushrooms and continue to saute until golden brown and the turkey is cooked through, 4 to 6 additional minutes. Season with kosher salt, pepper and granulated garlic. Stir well, and then shut off the heat and set aside to cool. (* I added actual real minced garlic to mine to enhance the garlic flavor 🙂 )

In a small mixing bowl, combine ricotta, egg, Parmesan, about 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt and a few rounds of cracked pepper. Spread 1/4 cup of the white sauce in the bottom of a 9- by 13-inch glass baking dish. Begin layering with 3 noodles, followed with about 1 cup ricotta mixture. Layer about half of the zucchini evenly over the ricotta. Follow with half the turkey sausage and mushrooms, finishing with 1 cup white sauce. Sprinkle with 1/3 of the mozzarella. Repeat. Top the second layer with 4 noodles, white sauce and sprinkle with the remaining mozzarella. Bake, covered with foil, for 30 minutes. (Try to tent the foil so it doesn’t stick to the cheese a lot and remove it all from the lasagna when you take the foil off!)

Remove from the oven and remove the foil cover. Heat the broiler to maximum temperature. Broil until the cheese is browned and bubbling, about 1 minute. Garnish with the parsley.

Because of the cheese and full fat milk, this isn’t the lowest cal/fat meal ever but I feel like the turkey sausage and zucchini make me feel a little better indulging in it’s deliciousness 😉 Enjoy with a nice glass of full bodied Chardonnay or a Rosé now that summer is almost here- and enjoy it!

Thanks for stoping by!

xoxo