Thanksgiving Lasagna

I am so excited for Thanksgiving this year.

This year we'll be blessed to have three Thanksgiving dinners. That means more turkey and gravy. More pan gravy with my granny's secret weapon: sake. Seriously, try it friends. Thanksgiving with my family is always full of pieces of her. She didn't just pass on recipes, but technique, style, and attitude. Thanksgiving seems to pull it all together into a giant food memory. 

As I slid this lasagna into the oven, I knew she would have loved it. I know you will, too.

This lasagna is an excellent way to change it up before, during or after Thanksgiving. Most of the ingredients are already in your kitchen as you prepare for the holiday. Its full of fall flavor with turkey, pumpkin and sage, then topped with mozzarella and fried sage leaves. Use leftover turkey instead of ground turkey for a great twist on leftovers. 

Make, bake and share this lasagna and have a blessed Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving Lasagna

Serves 8

1 tablespoon olive oil, divided

20 oz. ground turkey

8 leaves fresh sage

1 medium yellow onion, diced

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons dried sage

2 (15 ounce) cans pumpkin puree

3/4 cup chicken stock

20 ounces ricotta

8 ounces mozzarella, cut into 1 ounce slices

1 package oven-ready lasagna noodles

Grease a 9 x 13 pan and set aside. Heat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large pan, brown turkey over medium heat with 1 teaspoon olive oil. Remove turkey from pan, drain and set aside. Add remaining olive oil and pan-fry fresh sage leaves. When the sage leaves are crispy, drain on a paper towel and set aside. 

Add onion and salt to pan, scraping to remove all the crispy bits from the bottom. Cook until onions are fragrant, about 3 minutes. Add dried sage and continue cooking another two to three minutes. Remove from heat and add turkey to onion mixture. 

In a medium bowl, stir together pumpkin and chicken stock.

In the pan, make three layers of the pumpkin, noodles, turkey mixture and ricotta. Top with another layer of noodles and pumpkin. Arrange mozzarella slices and fried sage on top.

Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and continue baking another 15 minutes or until mozzarella begins to brown and lasagna is bubbly. Allow to rest 5-10 minutes before serving.