Lasagna Casserole

This is a great weeknight meal and can easily be prepared in advance. It is fairly healthy if you use all low-fat cheese and lean ground turkey. I was excited to see that this had ricotta cheese in it, because I love it, and doubly excited to see that it was mixed with cream cheese and sour cream. Chuck doesn't like the texture of ricotta so I rarely cook with it, but mixed with the other ingredients, you can barely tell it's there (but still get all the yummy taste from it)!

I made a few small adaptations from the recipe, just based on different amounts of things I had on hand; but all in all it worked exactly how it was supposed to! The ground turkey blends nicely with the tomato sauce and the creamy cheeses make this a very satisfying meal.

Lasagna Casserole
slightly adapted from Lauren's Kitchen (originally from ...and a cookie for dessert)
Makes 6-8 servings

5 cups uncooked egg noodles
1 1/4 pound package ground turkey
2 garlic cloves, minced
half of one medium onion, finely chopped
24 ounces tomato sauce (not marinara, just plain tomato sauce)
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
dried oregano, basil, and parsley, to taste
1 package (8 ounces) reduced-fat cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup reduced-fat ricotta cheese
1/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a 13 x 9 pan with cooking spray. (Or use two 8 x 8 pans if you want to save one. See more specific directions here.)

Cook noodles according to package directions. Drain, do not rinse.

Meanwhile, in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, cook turkey, garlic, and onion until meat is no longer pink; drain.

Stir in the tomato sauce, sugar, salt, pepper and dried herbs; heat through on low heat. Stir noodles into mixture.

In a small bowl, beat the cream cheese, ricotta cheese and sour cream until blended. Spoon half of the noodle mixture into prepared dish. Top with cheese mixture and remaining noodle mixture.

Cover and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover; sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Bake 5-10 minutes longer or until heated through and cheese is melted.