Spaghetti Squash Lasagna

I remember a few months back seeing a recipe for spaghetti squash lasagna but I didn't get it printed out and forgot to save the page.  

I went in search for it and found gobs of similar recipes.  Many of them were served in the spaghetti squash shell but I wanted something different.

Finally I found one of Rachel Ray's.  Her's is the recipe that inspired this one but I changed it up.

Let's just say when you measure your cheese by the pound you're in trouble point wise.  

So this is my lower point version of her recipe.  

Ingredients

1 spaghetti squash

1 lb lean ground turkey

4 mini sweet bell peppers or one regular red bell pepper diced

1 yellow onion diced

2 cloves of garlic minced

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

8 oz baby portabella mushrooms sliced

2 (15 oz) cans diced tomatoes

2 Tbsp tomato paste

1 Tbsp Italian seasoning 

2 tsp oregano

1/4 cup chopped fresh basil(1 tsp dried)

1 cup part skim ricotta

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 lb frozen spinach

1/4 cup liquid egg whites

1 cup part skim mozzarella cheese

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.  Cut the spaghetti squash in half, seed this and place on a foil lined, olive oil sprayed baking sheet.  Cook for one hour or until done.

Saute one diced yellow onion with chicken broth until well done, around 12-15 minutes.

Add 1 lb of lean ground turkey and cook until browned.  Then add 4 mini sweet peppers(orange, red and yellow) diced, two cloves of minced garlic.  

Truth time- I forgot to buy extra regular bell peppers and had to get into my husband's stash of mini peppers he puts in his morning eggs.  You could use a regular bell pepper diced.  

Next add 2 Tbsp of tomato paste and two 15 oz cans of diced tomatoes, 8 oz of sliced baby portabella mushrooms, 1 tsp of salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, 1 Tbsp Italian seasoning, 1/4 cup fresh chopped basil and 2 tsp oregano.  You can definitely change up the seasonings to suit your tastes.    

Simmer for at least 20 minutes until it reduces down and much of the liquid is evaporated.

While that is simmering, thaw 1/2 lb of frozen spinach and then wring out as much of the liquid as you can with your hands.

To the spinach add 1/4 cup of liquid egg whites, 1 cup of part skim ricotta and 1/4 cup of grated Parmesan.

Mix together and set aside.

Pull the squash out of the oven and pull out 3 1/2 cups of the squash and mix it in with the spinach mix.  

Layer this in the bottom of a 9 x 13 pan sprayed with olive oil.  

Now add all the meat mixture over the top of this.  

And finally 1 cup of part skim mozzarella.

Bake this in the oven at 425 degrees for 25 minutes or until the cheese is slightly browned.  

This yields 6 generous servings that are 6 pts a piece.  

This was oh so yummy and cheesy!

My husband's unsolicited comment?  "Wow Honey!  This is really good!  I want to just keep eating more and more but I know I shouldn't".  That's like a 10 on the Mark scale of food rating.  ;)

Let's think about it....  

Olive Garden Lasagna Classico dinner portion is 32 pts vs this version which is 6 pts.  

Hmmm.....  Yep!  It's a WIN!  

Happy Cooking!