Slow Cooker Turkey Lasagna

I love my slow cooker. I love lasagna. I love sneaking vegetables into my kids' diet. Therefore, this recipe was an all-around winner! This recipe is adapted from the May 2010 issue of Family Circle magazine. I added some carrots, omitted some onion, tweaked the cooking/resting time a bit, and voila - my new favorite recipe!

Slow Cooker Turkey Broccoli Lasagna

(This makes a large recipe - you'll have leftovers for a few days!)




1 lb. ground turkey
1 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1 container (15 oz.) cottage cheese or ricotta cheese (I used cottage cheese)
1 cup mozzarella cheese, divided
10-12 lasagna noodles, broken in half, uncooked
1 pkg. (10 oz.) frozen chopped broccoli, thawed
3 carrots, finely chopped
1 jar (26 oz.) spaghetti sauce
1/2 cup water

In a large nonstick skillet, brown the turkey until no longer pink. Drain fat. Stir in the oregano, salt and pepper.

In a small bowl, combine the cottage or ricotta cheese with 1/2 cup of the mozzarella cheese.

In a separate bowl, combine the spaghetti sauce, chopped carrots and 1/2 cup water.

In your slow cooker, break apart half of the noodles and place in the bottom of the slow cooker, overlapping as necessary.

Spread half of the meat mixture over the noodles.

Top with half of the broccoli, then top with half of the spaghetti sauce mixture.

Gently spread half of the ricotta/cottage cheese mixture on top.

Repeat the layers (first noodles, then meat, then broccoli, then cottage cheese mixture, and lastly sauce).

Cover and cook on LOW for 5 hours. During the last fifteen minutes of cooking, top with the remaining 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese. When done cooking, turn off the slow cooker and remove the lid. Let rest for 10-15 minute before cutting and serving.