Thanksgiving Lasagna

I was inspired to make this comforting, delicious lasagna from the blog The Cozy Apron. I pinned a beautiful photo of her Autumn Lasagna from Pinterest and anxiously read her recipe to see if I could make it without having to go to the store. It seemed straight forward enough but as it turned out, I didn't have all the ingredients so I improvised a bit on her delicious sauce and I added some sage infused ricotta too. The pumpkin and roasted garlic sauce is so delicious and it makes the dish decidedly more Thanksgiving-ish than a traditional Italian Lasagna with a tomato sauce would. Combine this decadent and flavorful sauce with sage-seasoned ground turkey, spinach, ricotta and mozzarella cheeses and it's a feast for the taste-buds. Serve it as a new fun side dish on Thanksgiving or as a weeknight meal. I made the sauce a day ahead, only because I ran out of daylight to take photos of my progress, so I refrigerated it and resumed the next day. Letting the sauce sit overnight just enhanced the flavors as they melded together, but it' not necessary to make it a day ahead.
 
I also discovered that you should not use the no boil, oven-ready lasagna noodles, trust me! My poor husband and I spent a whole week eating my first attempt at this lasagna, although it had incredible flavor, it also had very chewy undercooked lasagna noodles. My second attempt, (pictured above) had perfectly cooked noodles with incredible flavors layered between them.  

Thanksgiving Lasagna (adapted recipe from The Cozy Apron)

Serves 10

Pumpkin and Roasted Garlic Sauce

2 garlic heads, roasted
olive oil
1 17oz pumpkin puree
1 t Italian seasoning
3 t salt
1/2 t pepper
1 cup chicken broth
2 cups half and half
4 oz. cream cheese
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

Filling
1 1/2 lb. ground turkey
1/2 t Italian seasoning
1/2 t salt
1/4 t pepper
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
2 T fresh sage, chopped

1 small container ricotta cheese
1 egg
3-4 fresh sage leaves,chopped

12 lasagna noodles,
4 cups baby spinach, or 1 package frozen spinach, thawed
4 cups mozzarella cheese, grated
1 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

Sauce Preparation:
I made this sauce a day ahead which allowed the flavors to blend well since the flavors are subtle but amazingly complex. 
Cut the tops of garlic heads and drizzle with a little olive oil. In a 350 degree oven, roast the garlic for 30-35 minutes until soft. Remove form oven and let cool, until easy to handle. (~20 minutes)
Squeeze garlic heads removing the roasted cloves and place garlic cloves in a food processor. Add pureed pumpkin and process on medium until garlic is pureed and incorporated. Transfer the pureed pumpkin and garlic to a medium saucepan. Add Italian seasonings, salt, pepper, chicken stock, half and half, cream cheese and Parmesan cheese and heat on low, gently heating the sauce. Use a whisk to gently stir the sauce as the cheeses melt. Take your time on this step so you don't heat it too quickly and scorch the cream components in the sauce. I heated mine for about 30 minutes to fully melt the cheeses and thicken the sauce. If you are preparing this a day ahead, let the sauce cool completely, cover and then refrigerate overnight. When ready to assemble lasagna, reheat the sauce slowly to bring it up to temperature, stirring often. 

Brown ground turkey in a large skillet and add Italian seasoning, salt, pepper and garlic. Add fresh sage and set aside.

Boil Lasagna Noodles according to package directions. Set aside.

In a small bowl add ricotta and egg and mix well. Add fresh sage and mix until incorporated. Set aside.

Grate cheeses and mix together in a large bowl and set aside.

Rinse and spin fresh spinach or thaw and squeeze out the water from frozen spinach and set aside.
Now, you are ready to assemble your Thanksgiving Lasagna.


Assembly of first layer:

Add 2 cups of sauce to the bottom of 12x9x3 baking dish.

Layer 4 Lasagna Noodles length-wise on top of sauce. Sauce will seep and coat the tops of the noodles to so there is no need for additional sauce for this first layer..

Add approx. 1/2 of the ricotta cheese to noodles.

Add approximately 1/2 of the seasoned turkey meat and approximately 1/2 of the spinach.

Top first layer with approximately 1/3 of the cheese mixture.

2nd layer
Layer 4 Lasagna noodles over the last cheese layer.
Add 1 cup of sauce.
Spoon remaining ricotta cheese.
Top with the other 1/2 of seasoned turkey meat and remaining spinach.
Add another 1/3 of the cheese mixture.

Final layer
Add the last 4 lasagna noodles.
Add 2 cups of sauce and top with remaining cheese mixture.
Sprinkle top with a little Italian seasoning.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. 

Note: You will have left-over sauce, so don't throw it away, freeze it. Place in a Ziploc bag, remove any air and freeze for use with another Lasagna or to top Ravioli or your favorite pasta. Enjoy!