The girls and I ventured into an uncharted territory night before last, and we threw together a zucchini lasagna – we loved it. It was a much simpler recipe than what I’m posting below; we were out of pretty much everything but the zucchini and meat sauce. Still, this is basically the same recipe as my much loved regular lasagna, only with zucchini for noodles rather than pasta.

I can’t wait to give it a try!

Zucchini Veg Lasagna w/Meat Sauce

Ingredients

‘Noodles’:
6 med-lrg zucchini, cut lengthwise into 1/8″ thick slices
salt

Sauce:
1 1/4 lb lean ground beef (or turkey, chicken or pork)
1 lg onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 lg green bell pepper, diced
1 lg red bell pepper, diced
2 c fresh spinach, chopped fine
2 c broccoli and cauliflower florets, finely chopped
salt, pepper to taste
dried crushed oregano, basil and hot pepper flakes to taste
2 cans Hunts Pasta Sauce (or similar sauce to preference)

Cheese Layer:
1 500ml cottage cheese, drained
1 egg
1 c shredded Italiano cheese blend (Kraft, Sargento/Black Diamond, etc.)

Topping:
3 c shredded Italiano cheese blend (Kraft, Sargento/Black Diamond, etc.)

Directions

Slice the zucchini and place in a strainer sprinkled with a small amount of salt, let sit for an hour. For space saving, you can layer the slices, but be careful when removing them or they’ll tear! Salting the slices allows some of the liquid in the zucchini to draw and drain away. You can skip this step, but the moisture will cook out and make the lasagna watery.

In the meantime, brown the meat, adding the vegetables about half-way through the cooking. Sprinkle with desired seasonings, and add the sauce. Simmer on lowest setting until heated through.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, beat the egg and add the cottage cheese. Stir until well blended. Remove the zucchini from the strainer carefully, and pat dry as best you can.

Pre-heat the oven to 350. Spray or grease a 9×13 deep pan, and cover the bottom with a layer of the meat sauce. Add a layer of the zucchini, a layer of meat sauce, a layer of zucchini and then the cottage cheese mixture. Cover with the first amount of Italiano cheese shreds, and add another layer of zucchini, then meat, then zucchini. Cover with the last of the meat sauce, and bake uncovered for 30-45 minutes, testing at 30 minutes to see if the zucchini is tender-soft. If it is, cover with the remaining cheese and continue to bake until the cheese bubbles and turns golden.

Let it sit for ten minutes before cutting into servings.

Enjoy!

’til next time,
<3 JL