Homemade Ground Turkey Casserole with Recipe!

Obviously, taken with my iPhone. I was too excited to eat to wait for Daisy.

That's better.

Finally, a food post with a recipe of my own. Well, almost of my own. This summer, Brian and I started a new eating lifestyle (sounds so much better than diet) called the Precision Nutrition System and I legitimately swear by it because it actually works. We got the Gourmet Nutrition Cookbook which had a Turkey Sausage Casserole recipe that caught my attention. Here's where the whole "my recipe" thing comes in: the recipe calls for zucchini, mushrooms, and 2 whole cups of cottage cheese but since I actually hate all of those things, I improvised a little and the outcome was ridiculously good. Hit the jump for my improvised recipe!

...right?

Ingredients

1 lb lean turkey sausage, sliced
             (I replaced with ground turkey, only because I didn't have anymore sausage.)
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 medium zucchinis, sliced (1/4 inch thick)
             (LOL, no. Eggplant! Instead of slicing, cube them.)
1 1/2 cups sliced mushrooms
             (Again, no gracias. Broccoli! The pieces shouldn't be too big and overwhelming.)
1 tbsp olive oil
2 cups cottage cheese 
             (Way too much for me. 1 cup cottage cheese, 1 cup ricotta)
2 omega-3 eggs
3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, part skim 
             (I used  parmesan for the same reason I used ground turkey.)

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350-degrees F. Throw in the ground turkey and brown in a skillet, using any spices you like in your meat. I use poultry seasoning, cumin, and your basic salt and pepper. While the turkey is browning, sauté the onion and garlic in olive oil in another pan until slightly browned. Add the cubed eggplant and chopped broccoli and sauté until cooked or close to cooked. Once everything is all cooked, add the turkey to the veggies to comine everything and place about half the mixture to a baking dish. 

In an electric blender, blend cottage cheese, ricotta, and eggs until smooth. Pour the half the mixture into the baking dish, top with remaining turkey/veggie mixture, and finish it off with the remaining cheese mixture. Sprinkle the parmesan (or mozzarella) on top and bake at 350° F for 35 to 40 minutes. 

Sorry about not having exact cooking times for sautéing the veggie/ground turkey...I pretty much do most of my cooking by eye. The process looks kind of intimidating but it's actually a pretty easy recipe and the whole thing only took about an hour! 

Enjoy!