Vegetable Lasagna with turkey Italian sausage

1) Slice the vegetables thinly along their length - to look like long, thin lasagna noodle. It’s easiest to do this on a V-slicer or mandoline. You’re not looking for paper-thin - more like 1/2 cm thick - maybe a little thinner. You’ll need 3 layers worth of “noodles.” Lay the sliced veggies out on a drying rack over a cookie sheet. Salt the top side lightly. After about 10 mintues, you’ll see liquid appearing on the surface. Turn the slices over and lightly salt the other side. It doesn’t take a lot of salt to get the moisture to start coming out - just a very light sprinkling. Not more than 1/2 tsp per side.

After the squash has had about an hour of unattended draining time, pour off the liquid, quickly rinse the slices to remove excess salt, and dry. A salad spinner does the trick beautifully, or you can gently wring them in paper towels.

2) While the squash drains, mix the ground turkey breast with the red pepper flake, 1 tsp of the Mrs. Dash, the onion powder, garlic powder and fennel seeds. Do not over-mix or the turkey will get tough. Your hand in a latex glove is the best tool for getting a good mixture here. Allow this to sit in the fridge to mellow while you fnish prepping the veggies.

3) Heat a non-stick skillet over medium heat and spray lightly with olive oil. Add the spiced turkey mixture to the pan and brown, breaking up the meat with a spatula. Chop the onion and add to the pan as the meat cooks. Salt lightly to bring out the moisture in the onion. When the meat is lightly browned add the onion transluscent, add the wine or stock and allow to simmer until most of the liquid has cooked out, then remove from the heat.

4) Mix the ricotta, the remaining 1 tsp of Mrs. Dash and the egg until well combined.

5) Spray a 9x13 pan with olive oil or Pam. Pour about 3/4 cup of the pasta sauce in the bottom of the pan. Layer on 1/3 of the sliced squash. Spread on 1/2 of the turkey and onion mixtire. Then sprinkle on 1/2 of the mozarella cheese.

6) Lay on another layer of sliced squash. Spread the ricotta mixture over the noodles.

7) Lay on the final layer of sliced squash. Pour on the remaining turkey and onion mixture. Pour on the remaining sauce. Sprinkle on the remaining mozarella.

8) Bake at 350. After 45 minutes, sprinkle on the parmesean cheese and cook for an additional 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and let it rest for at least 10 minutes.