060 / 75 · Pasta, Rice and Grain Meals

Turkey Tomato Lasagne Bowls

2 bowls, each with half the turkey-tomato pasta and ricotta · Active 45 min · Total 1 hr 20 min

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Lasagne flavors can become a bowl meal without building a deep layered casserole. Regular lasagne sheets are broken into manageable pieces, cooked in a large pot and folded through a turkey-tomato sauce. Measured ricotta sits in small spoonfuls at serving. The beginner lesson is choosing pasta meant for boiling and keeping wide pieces moving so they do not fuse together while the meat sauce finishes.

Jump to ingredients

Original hand-drawn illustration of turkey tomato lasagne bowls.

Use regular boil-first sheets

Oven-ready lasagne sheets are designed for a different amount of surrounding liquid and do not automatically follow this method. Choose ordinary dry sheets with boiling instructions, weigh them and break into roughly four-centimeter pieces before cooking. Add them to actively boiling water and stir gently at the beginning so adjacent flat faces do not stick. Cook to the packet time rather than guessing from the word lasagne. Keep a little hot pasta water before draining; it can loosen a sauce that has become too thick.

Build a sauce that holds the wide pieces

Soften onion and carrot before adding ground turkey. Break the meat into small crumbles and measure its poultry endpoint before covering everything with tomato. Let the tomato base simmer uncovered until it coats a spoon, then add spinach only at the end. The greens wilt into the sauce, but should not turn it back into a watery soup. A wide skillet gives the mixture room to reduce. Turkey labeled 93% lean is the stated base; a much leaner breast-only mince has a different composition and can dry more easily.

Keep the ricotta a measured finish

Divide all the sauce and pasta between two bowls before adding half the ricotta to each in small spoonfuls. Use a clean spoon and pasteurized ready-to-eat cheese, kept refrigerated until this stage. The hot sauce and cool creamy pockets are intentional; there is no extra Parmesan, mozzarella or garlic bread included. For another meal, store the cooked pasta mixture and cheese separately, so reheating can be checked without repeatedly warming the whole ricotta container.

Ingredients

  • 9 oz raw ground turkey,93% lean (250 g)
  • 5 oz regular dry lasagne sheets requiring boiling, broken into about 1 1/2-inch/4 cm pieces (140 g)
  • About 8 cups water for pasta (2 liters)
  • 1 can crushed tomatoes with juice (400 g/about 14 oz)
  • 1 small onion, finely diced (100 g)
  • 1 medium carrot, finely diced (80 g prepared)
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced (6 g)
  • About 3 packed cups spinach, washed and roughly chopped (80 g)
  • 1/2 cup part-skim ricotta made with pasteurized milk (120 g)
  • 2 teaspoons olive oil (10 ml/about 9 g)
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano (1 g)
  • 1/2 teaspoon fine salt (3 g), divided
  • 1/8 teaspoon black pepper (0.3 g)

Set out

Large saucepan for pasta, 30 cm/12-inch deep skillet, Colander, Spoon and tongs, Knife and board, Kitchen scale, Measuring jug, Food thermometer, 2 bowls

Allergens

Wheat, Milk; check lasagne sheets for egg or other added allergens. Check labels and substitutions.

Make it

  1. Prepare vegetables before handling raw turkey. Heat oil in the wide skillet over medium heat. Cook onion and carrot for 9–11 minutes until softening. Add turkey, break into small crumbles and cook for 8–10 minutes until a gathered thick portion reaches 165°F/74°C, without touching the probe to the pan.
  2. Stir in garlic and oregano for 30 seconds. Add tomatoes, pepper and half the salt. Simmer uncovered for 15–20 minutes, stirring, until the sauce coats a spoon rather than flooding it. Fold in spinach for 2–3 minutes until fully wilted.
  3. Meanwhile boil the pasta water with remaining salt. Add the weighed broken regular lasagne pieces, stir gently to separate them and cook to the packet instructions. Reserve 1/2 cup/120 ml cooking water, then drain.
  4. Fold cooked pasta through the hot turkey sauce using tongs. Add reserved water 1 tablespoon/15 ml at a time only if needed for a moist coating. Divide all contents between 2 bowls and add 60 g of the measured ricotta to each in small spoonfuls. Serve promptly.

A useful kitchen skill

Choose boil-first sheets, stir wide pasta early to prevent sticking and reduce the sauce before folding it through.

A useful detail

The estimate includes 140 g dry pasta,250 g raw 93%-lean turkey and 120 g part-skim ricotta. Ordinary boil-first pasta is required; the 80-minute total allows sauce reduction and beginner preparation, with pasta cooking overlapped.

Another way

  • Use 250 g raw 90/10 ground beef instead of turkey, measuring 160°F/71°C for ground beef before simmering and using its different composition.
  • Use 120 g whole-milk ricotta instead of part-skim, checking the label and revising the estimate.

Keep it well

Refrigerate promptly in shallow containers at 40°F/4°C or below within 2 hours, or 1 hour above 90°F/32°C. Use the cooked pasta mixture within 3 days. Keep ricotta separately refrigerated and follow its shorter use-by/opening instructions. Reheat the needed pasta portion to 165°F/74°C throughout before adding freshly portioned cold ricotta. Freeze the cooked turkey-pasta mixture for up to 2 months and thaw in the refrigerator; wide pasta softens further.