Turkey Lasagna

By Cress Sia

Most recipes for turkey lasagna call for turkey sausage.

Good luck finding that in Cebu.

But, I did find ground turkey. And sausage. So I mix both up to make turkey and sausage (though not exactly turkey sausage but close, lol). I use breakfast sausage here because I like the flavor of that. But you can use Italian sausage too.

Start by softening your lasagna by submerging them in hot water, if you are baking. If you don't have an oven, or prefer not to bake (like if you're in a hurry), cook your lasagna noodles according to package directions. I will bake mine, so I submerged the noodles in hot water, for 15 minutes.

Heat olive oil in a work. Add chopped garlic and onions.

Add ground turkey. If you don't have ground turkey you may substitute ground chicken. Slice open your sausage casings and release its contents to the wok. Crumble the meat together and brown. Then throw in your sliced tomatoes.

Add your tomato based spaghetti sauce. I used Clara Ole's Chunky Tomato Sauce with Basil.

Cover and allow your meat to cook until tender, for about 20 minutes. When that's done turn off heat and add your chopped parsley.


Meanwhile, make the bechamel sauce. Lasagna with bechamel AND tomato meat sauce makes it doubly good! To make this delicious sauce, heat up a saucepan using low heat. Throw in your butter and let it melt. Add your flour and stir until you make a paste-like substance (this by the way is called roux).

Add two cups of milk. I use regular milk. If you're a health buff you can use skim milk. If you're not a health buff you can use regular milk like me, or even cream. If you don't know what you are, use 1 cup of milk and 1 cup of cream. I use milk because turkey and sausage is heavy enough to me. Add a teaspoon of garlic salt (or plain salt if you don't have garlic salt). Stir everything in your saucepan together and let the saucer simmer and thicken. Turn off the heat and add half a cup of parmesan cheese (or more if you like cheese, like I do). The finished sauce should look like very thick cream.

Now the layering and assembling part. Put meat sauce on the bottom of an 8 inch square baking dish. Don't use anything larger or you will have a very thin lasagna, which you don't want. Lay your lasagna on top of the meat sauce. Then spread half of your bechamel sauce on top. Repeat layering again, beginning with the meat sauce, followed by the lasagna noodles, and finally the bechamel sauce.

Top with sliced cheese. But shredded mozzarella cheese is even better.

Bake in 150C oven for twenty minutes. Then top with more parmesan cheese. Slice and savor.

Then, eat and be merry!

Turkey Lasagna
by Cress Sia

Summary of Ingredients:

Meat sauce:
2 tbsps olive oil
2 tbsps chopped garlic
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup chopped tomatoes
450 g ground turkey (or ground chicken)
4pcs. Johnsonville breakfast sausage, casings removed
2 cups Tomato based spaghetti sauce
1 tbsp chopped parsley

Bechamel sauce:
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp flour
2 cups milk
1 tsp garlic salt
1/2 cup parmesan cheese plus more to top

200 g Lasagna
8-10 cheese slices (or 1.5 cups shredded cheese like mozzarella)