Crock Pot Penne Lasagna

I love our crock pot and really enjoy finding new, easy, and delicious crock pot recipes.  Anyone who knows me knows I don't cook/use pasta often but this recipe sounded too great to not try.  Glad I did too.

Recipe

Ingredients

1 c. freshly grated Parmesan cheese

15 oz. part-skim ricotta cheese

1 lb. part-skim mozzarella cheese, grated, 1 cup reserved for topping

3 tsp. extra virgin olive oil, separated

8 oz. white mushrooms, sliced

1 lb. frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained until very dry (see note)

1 large onion, peeled and finely chopped

4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced

1/2 lb. ground turkey

4 cans (14 oz) diced tomatoes, juices drained, separated

1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce

12 oz. mini penne (or other small tubular pasta) par-cooked 5 minutes (until barely cooked), drained and cooled

2 tsp. dried basil

1 tsp. oregano

1 tsp. kosher salt

1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper

cooking spray

Directions:

Combine Parmesan, ricotta and all but one cup of the mozzarella.  Reserve.

Heat a 12" nonstick skillet over medium high-heat; add 1-tsp oil, saute mushrooms until golden brown.  Season with 1/2 tsp salt & a 1/4 tsp pepper.  Mix with drained spinach.  Reserve.

Heat 1 tsp oil; saute onions and garlic until soft, about five minutes.  Set aside.  In the same skillet, heat 1 tsp oil and browned; ground turkey; transfer to bowl with onions.  Stir in 1 cup diced tomatoes, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper.  Reserve.

Combine tomato sauce, remaining diced tomatoes, basil and oregano; stir into pasta.

Lightly coat the interior of the ceramic pot of a slow cooker with cooking spray.  Using 1/3 of the pasta mixture, make a layer on the bottom of the insert.  Spread meat mixture evenly over pasta.  Cover with 1/2 the cheese mixture.

Make a second layer of pasta; top with spinach and mushroom mixture.  Cover with remaining ricotta cheese mixture.  Make a final layer of pasta and top with reserved mozzarella.

Cover and cook on Low setting, using the timer function for 6 hours.  Slow cooker with automatically switch to Warm until ready to serve.

Note: To drain spinach thoroughly, first squeeze out as much water as possible with your hands.  Lay the spinach on a clean towel, roll up, and wring out the rest.  (You will end up with about 1/2 cup dry spinach that can then be mixed with the mushrooms).

**Meghan's further suggestions**

1) Use your favorite spaghetti sauce to have on the side to add on top of once served on each plate

2) Make sure to serve or turn off heat completely once done cooking at end of 6 hours so don't overcook

Enjoy!!