This recipe is a compilation of many recipes that I have found over the years. I love this particular recipe because of the vegetables, but it is flexible and you can substitute noodles for the zucchini.
Zucchini Lasagna
Sauce:
3/4 pound sweet Italian sausage (optional)
1/2 pound lean ground beef (or ground turkey)
1/3 cup minced onion
1 cloves garlic, crushed
1 (15.5 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
1 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
1 (15.5 ounce) cans canned tomato sauce
1/3 cup water
1 1/2 tbsp white sugar
1 teaspoons dried basil leaves
1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds
3/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning
2 tsp salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Ricotta Cheese
Sauce:
3/4 pound sweet Italian sausage (optional)
1/2 pound lean ground beef (or ground turkey)
1/3 cup minced onion
1 cloves garlic, crushed
1 (15.5 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
1 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
1 (15.5 ounce) cans canned tomato sauce
1/3 cup water
1 1/2 tbsp white sugar
1 teaspoons dried basil leaves
1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds
3/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning
2 tsp salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Ricotta Cheese
17.5 oz ricotta cheese
1 organic mediun size lemon (zest and juice)
1/2 cup of fresh basil (chopped)
a pinch of sea salt
a pinch of lemon pepper
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
4 medium zucchinis
1 organic mediun size lemon (zest and juice)
1/2 cup of fresh basil (chopped)
a pinch of sea salt
a pinch of lemon pepper
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
4 medium zucchinis
- For sauce: In a large pot, cook sausage, ground beef, onion, and garlic over medium heat until well browned. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, and water. Season with sugar, basil, fennel seeds, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, and parsley. Simmer, covered, for about 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally. After about 1 hour, preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- For ricotta: Place ricotta cheese in a bowl, grate the lemon zest and squeeze the lemon, add zest and juice to bowl, then add basil, salt and pepper and mix it together.
- For lasagna: Slice zucchini lengthwise into thin strips (about 1/8 inch thick) using a mandoline or a sharp knife. Place 8 to 10 zucchini slices, overlapping slightly, in the bottom of an 9x13 in baking dish. Top with 2 cups sauce. Dot with 1/2 cup ricotta. Repeat twice with zucchini, remaining sauce, and 1/2 cup ricotta, alternating direction of zucchini. Top with remaining zucchini, alternating direction; brush with oil. Dot with remaining ricotta. Season with pepper. Bake, uncovered*, until lasagna bubbles and top browns, 60 to 70 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes.
In case you're interested, here are the recipes that I used to create this my recipe:
So, we made this a couple weeks ago. Uh-maze-ing. Also, we made a double batch both of the red sauce and the ricotta mixture, stuck them in ziplock bags, and put them in the freezer. Just made it again because I couldn't live without it for that long. Worked beautifully taking the stuff out of the freezer the night before and putting it in the fridge to thaw, so all we had to do was buy zucchini and assemble.
ReplyDeleteNotes on recipe: We did use less red sauce than called for so the lasagna set up better, and we discovered that peeling the skins from the zucchini (I know, that's the super healthiest part) made it easier to cut the lasagna after.
That is a great idea! I will definitely do that for next time. Now that you mention it, I have noticed it could use a little less red sauce. I will work on getting the proportions worked out. Do you have a mandolin slicer, or something like it? I have had to slice the zucchinis by hand and it is a pain. I'll try peeling them beforehand. Thank you so much for the feedback!
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