In The Porcupine of Truth Carson Smith’s family has never been close. His grandfather ran out on his grandmother, his dad drank himself right out of a relationship with his mother and his mother has always been, well, an ice queen. Family dinners were never really a thing that Carson got to experience growing up, but it’s something that he and his friend Aisha  find themselves desperately needing. Living most of his life in New York I thought, what would more fitting than one of the most amazing dishes you can snag in the Big Apple? With all of the Italian restaurants (and all of the Italian Nonnas in every neighborhood), lasagna is a staple! Below is a recipe so easy, even Carson could make it.

You will need:

Box of lasagna noodles (I mean, you could make it fresh but that requires a lot of work appliances that most folks don’t have.)

Water for boiling

Ricotta Cheese 1 tub

Shredded Cheese

Ground Turkey 1 lb

Spinach (washed)

Salt

Garlic Powder

Optional: olive oil

Cooking spray

Bottle of your favorite spaghetti sauce (I like Ragu’s Chunky Sun-dried Tomato and Sweet Basil. Or, you could be fancy and make your own.)

13×9 baking pan or casserole dish, large pot, large frying pan, strainer

Oven, stove

Directions:

Pre-heat the oven to 350.

In the large pot boil water and cook the lasagna noodles per the box’s instructions.

Meanwhile, brown the ground turkey in the frying pan season with garlic powder and the optional olive oil. Strain and return to the pan and mix in the spaghetti sauce. Let it simmer.

Let’s talk layering: this part can be a little tricky if you have over cooked you noodles. The order that I think is the best/easiest is as follows:

Noodles. Spread ricotta cheese evenly. Meat sauce. spinach. Repeat and then, if you have anything left over, add meet sauce and a couple of spoonfuls of ricotta.

Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30 mins. Remove foil and sprinkle on a layer of the shredded cheese. Bake for another 10 mins.

Alternative: If you want to assemble one day and then bake on the next you will have to refrigerate it and then bake for 40 mins covered, sprinkle the shredded cheese and then bake for 10 mins uncovered.

This lasagna recipe is so easy! Pair this with a simple salad and some garlic bread and your family won’t know what hit ’em!