Featured Recipe
Stovetop Lasagna
Equipment needed: 10” gourmet fry pan, large sauté skillet with cover, food cutter (julienne and grating blades) and measuring cups and spoons,
Prep time: 1 hour 15 minutes on top of the stove – makes 10 to 12 servings
1 onion, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
1 pound ground turkey or extra-lean ground beef
8 ounces part-skim milk ricotta cheese
2 Spaghetti sauce (Salsa de Pomodoro) page 204 Healthy Meat & Potatoes cookbook
8 ounces lasagna noodles
4 ounces part-skim mozzarella cheese, shredded #2 blade
4 ounces low-sodium cheddar cheese, shredded #2 blade
˝ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, #1 blade
2 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
In a hot, dry gourmet fry pan over medium-high heat, dry sauté the onion and garlic until slightly browned, 3 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in Italian seasoning.
Add the ground turkey or beef and sauté until cooked through, 4 to 5 minutes, stirring to break up ground meat. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. Stir in the ricotta cheese and set aside.
To prepare the lasagna, cover the inside bottom of the large sauté skillet with about ˝ cup of the spaghetti sauce. Place 4 uncooked lasagna noodles in the bottom of the skillet on top of the sauce (trim the corner of the noodles to fit the skillet). Sprinkle about one-forth of the mozzarella cheese and cheddar cheeses over the noodles and top with about half the ground meat mixture. Spread about a ˝ cup of spaghetti sauce over the cooked ground meat mixture.
Place a layer of lasagna noodles on the sauce and repeat the previous steps until the skillet is full, making 2 thick layers and topping the final layer with lasagna noodles. Top the lasagna noodles with the remaining sauce and sprinkle with the remaining mozzarella and cheddar cheeses.
Cover the skillet, close the vent and bake on top of the stove over medium-low heat for about 50 minutes. Don’t peak. Removing the cover will destroy the vapor seal, and lengthen the cooking time and may cause the lasagna to burn.
Turn the heat off and allow the lasagna to rest for about 15 minutes.
To serve, slice into 10 to 12 equal portions, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and chopped fresh basil and serve with toasted garlic bread.