Ingredients

• 6 whole wheat lasagna noodles
• 3 ounces part skim mozzarella, shredded
• 2 ounces provolone, shredded
• 1 ounce gouda, shredded
• 1 package frozen spinach, thawed and well drained
• 1 package frozen mushrooms, thawed and well drained
• 1 jar Rao’s Diablo Sauce (or other pasta sauce with comparable calories)
• 1 package silken tofu
• 30 grams pesto*
• garlic powder, kosher or sea salt and black pepper to taste

Preparation

Cut tofu into chunks and put in blender or food processor with pesto. Blend and add garlic powder, salt and pepper to taste. Will be a thinnish mixture, kind of like sour cream, and won’t have an overwhelming amount of flavor. Remember this is mostly filler but should taste good.  You can also add some sriracha here if you want to make it spicier. Remember to count the added calories if you do though!

Cook noodles about 75% of the way to al dente – about 10 minutes. (Optional healthy bonus: Don’t salt your pasta water. You won’t miss it and you’re body will thank you.) Put a thin layer of sauce on the bottom of your pan to keep the noodles from sticking. Lay three noodles along the bottom of the pan. Top noodles with spinach and mushrooms, as much of the tofu mixture as you want to use and about a third of the diablo sauce. Layer the other three noodles on top, put the rest of the sauce over these noodles and then spread the cheese on top.

Sprinkle the top with dried oregano, basil or parsley to make it look a little fancier if you so desire.

Put in the oven at 350 for 35 – 45 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly and starting to brown on top.  Let stand for 15-20 minutes before serving to reduce wateriness. Like a good steak, lasagna needs to rest.

Notes

One pan with 6 noodles cut into 12 pieces will come out to about 170-190 calories per piece depending on how much of the tofu pesto mixture you used. I usually end up with about 20-25% of the it leftover.

The tofu pesto mixture replaces the ricotta and drastically reduces the calories. But, if you don’t tell anyone, they’ll never know it’s not cheese.  Having all of the shredded cheese on top also tricks the eye and mind into thinking there’s more cheese in there than there is.

You can add more veggies such as thinly sliced zucchini or yellow squash without adding many calories.

Also, if you want the lasagna to have a more smokey, earthy flavor, increase the amount of gouda and decrease one of the other cheeses accordingly.

Optional (but adds a lot of calories calories): 1 package jimmy dean spicy sausage cooked thoroughly and doused with a healthy amount of sriracha. You can also add cooked ground turkey if you need meat in your lasagna. Adding one pound of ground turkey (dark meat) will add approximately 60 calories per piece (half a pound will add 30 calories per piece, etc).

*Skipping the pesto will reduce the calories by about 12 calories per slice and isn’t totally necessary since you can’t really taste at as pesto in the dish. It just adds some easy flavor to the tofu.

• 1 bell pepper (or 1/3 of each red, yellow and green peppers for more color)
• 16 asparagus stalks
• 1/2 red onion
• 3 garlic cloves
• 4 chicken breasts
• 2 teaspoons red pepper flakes
• 1 cup mozzarella
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 2 Tbsp. seasoned salt
• 1/4 cup shredded fresh basil
• 2 cups grape tomatoes
• 8 ounces of pasta of your choice (spaghetti, linguine
• 1/4 cup milk

Italian Chicken Fajita Pasta Preparation

Chop bell pepper & red onion into 1/4 inch pieces.  After washing the asparagus, take one piece at a time, holding each end, and bend.  The asparagus will naturally break in the middle.  Throw away the bottoms of the stalks and chop the tops into bite sized pieces. Mince the garlic.  Cut the grape tomatoes in half and shred 1/4 cup of fresh basil.  Keep the tomatoes and basil separate from the other vegetables.

Chop chicken into large bite size pieces and lightly coat with seasoned salt.  Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil, add chicken and cook thoroughly.  Add another teaspoon of olive oil, 1 tablespoon of butter, red pepper flakes, garlic and all of the vegetables except the tomatoes and basil.  Cook over medium heat for 12 – 15 minutes or until the asparagus is tender.  Add the tomatoes and basil at the end and just warm the tomatoes through.

While the chicken and vegetables are cooking, boil a pot of water and cook the pasta.  Drain the pasta and return it to the pot.  After the chicken and vegetables are done cooking, add them to the pot with the pasta over low heat, including the olive oil and butter that are left in the pan.  Add the milk and mozzarella and stir until cheese is melted.  Enjoy!

Italian Chicken Fajita Pasta Nutritional Information

Makes: 4 servings

Serving Size: 2 cups

Approximate Nutritional Information Per Serving

• Calories: 750
• Fat Grams: 18
• Carbohydrate Grams: 75
• Protein Grams: 63
• Fiber Grams: 10
• Weight Watchers Points: 16

• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 16 oz. Jimmy Dean Premium Pork Hot Sausage
• 1 c. chopped onion
• 4 minced garlic cloves
• 6 oz. tomato paste
• 16 oz. tomato sauce
• 28 oz. crushed tomatoes
• 2 c. fresh spinach
• 1/4 c. red wine
• 2 tbsp. red wine vinegar
• 4 tsp. dried oregano
• 4 tsp. dried basil
• 3 tsp. red pepper flakes
• 2 tsp. onion powder
• 2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 package (12 pcs.) lasagna noodles
• 8 oz. reduced fat shredded mozzarella
• 15 oz. part skim ricotta
• 2 tbsp. Sriracha

Spicy Lasagna Preparation

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Chop the onion, mince the garlic and wash the spinach. I also like to open all of the cans ahead of time so everything is ready when I need it.

In a skillet, heat olive oil and sauté onions and garlic, being careful to not burn the garlic. Drain any excess olive oil and brown the sausage* in the pan with the onions and garlic. Add one tablespoon of Sriracha to the sausage as it is cooking to allow the flavor to cook into the meat.

While the sausage is cooking, put the tomato sauce, tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, spinach, wine, red wine vinegar, 2 teaspoons oregano, 2 teaspoons basil, a tablespoon of Sriracha and 2 teaspoons red pepper flakes in a large saucepan.  Stir regularly over low heat.  Cover this pan if you’d like as tomato tends to bubble and splatter, making a royal mess of your stove top.  After the sauce is heated through and has simmered for a few minutes, drain the meat mixture, add it to the sauce and let simmer over low heat. The longer you let this mixture soak, the better the flavors will mix together making both the meat and the sauce even better. You can even make this part a day or two before you plan on having the lasagna if you want.

In a large bowl, mix the ricotta, 80% of the mozzarella and 2 teaspoons each basil, oregano, garlic powder, pepper, salt, onion powder and red pepper flakes.

Boil a large pot of water with a large pinch of salt.  Place a few lasagna noodles at a time in the pan and allow to cook about half way.  Lasagna noodles are easier to work with if they are still slightly stiff and they will soften more in the pan with the sauce and cheese after you put your lasagna together anyway.  I like to put cookie cooling racks out with towels under them and lay my cooked lasagna noodles on the cooling rack while I cook the remaining noodles.  This keeps them flat, prevents breakage and keeps them from sticking together.

Once all of your noodles are cooked, take a lasagna pan (13 x 9 glass baking pan or disposable aluminum pan) and spread some of the sauce along the bottom of the pan.  Layer as follows: noodles, cheese, sauce, repeat until the pan is nearly full.  You need to leave some room at the top or the sauce will boil over when you bake the lasagna.  Top the lasagna with sauce to cover any exposed noodle surface so you don’t get crunchy, burned noodle edges (unless you like them).  Sprinkle the remaining mozzarella on top of the top layer of sauce.

Bake the lasagna at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes.  Everything is already cooked so you just need to warm it through and allow the noodles to soften in the middle.  Let the lasagna sit for 10 – 15 minutes after you remove it from the oven to set. Cut the noodles in 5 sections and run a knife along the two interior edges of the noodles to separate the pan into 15 pieces. Serve with the remaining red wine and some garlic bread for a complete meal.

*Tip: Use a whisk to break up the big hunk of meat as it’s cooking.  This is faster and allows you to get bigger or smaller pieces depending on what you like.  And it keeps your hands cleaner than breaking it up as you put it in the pan.

Makes: 15 pieces

Serving Size: 2 pieces

Nutritional Information Per Serving (does not include aforementioned wine and garlic bread)

• Calories: 582
• Fat Grams: 31
• Saturated Fat Grams: 11
• Carbohydrate Grams: 44
• Protein Grams: 31
• Fiber Grams: 6
• Weight Watchers Points: 13

Alternative Ingredients to Reduce Fat and Calories

Substitute fat free cottage cheese for the ricotta, fat free mozzarella for the low fat mozzarella and light pork sausage for the spicy pork sausage.  You may also substitute whole grain noodles to add 2 grams of fiber per serving.  This substitution is not accounted for in the information below.

Alternative Nutritional Information Per Serving

• Calories: 402
• Fat Grams: 14
• Saturated Fat Grams: 3
• Carbohydrate Grams: 44
• Protein Grams: 26
• Fiber Grams: 6
• Weight Watchers Points: 6