As you may know from past posts, I’m trying to have a healthier lifestyle and not only lose weight, but eat better. To do that, I often will play around with recipes to change up ingredients. Since I had bought some zucchini and also picked up some ricotta cheese that was on sale (I always look for a sale!) I decided to do a vegetable lasagna. I also added some spinach that was delivered as part of my first CSA package. I am so glad someone tipped me to that Community Sponsored Agriculture. We’ve gotten some nice local produce from a nearby farm. So today I’m sharing my recipe for a zucchini lasagna.
Ingredients
4-5 large zucchini
28 ounce ricotta cheese (I love Galbani whole milk ricotta)
1 lb mozzarella cheese, grated
1 cup grated parmesan cheese (or pecorino)
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup cooked spinach
salt and pepper to taste
3 cups tomato sauce
2 eggs
2 tbsp parsley, minced
olive oil
Directions
Pre-heat oven to broil.
Slice zucchini lengthwise in about 1/4 inch thick slices. Lightly oil baking sheet and place zucchini on there. Lightly drizzle olive oil and salt and pepper on the slices. Broil until lightly browned and then flip and cook the other side until lightly browned. I do this because zucchini has a lot of water which will water down the ricotta if you don’t do this. You may need to do this in several batches depending on how much zucchini you have. Set aside and cool.
Pre-heat over to 350 degrees.
Beat two eggs and add half a pound of the grated mozzarella, half of the parmesan, and parsley. Mix well. Saute onion and garlic in a little olive oil until softened and add cooked spinach. Make sure to cook until the spinach mixture is relatively dry and then add this to the cheese mixture and mix well.
Lightly grease a 9×13 baking dish. Place about 1/2 cup of tomato sauce on the bottom of the pan. Lay the zucchini slices on the bottom to cover it. Spoon about 1/3 of the cheese mixture onto the zucchini slices. Put about 1/2 cup of tomato sauce on the cheese mixture. Top with more zucchini slices and then do another layer of cheese and tomato sauce. Finish with another layer of zucchini slices, cheese, and tomato sauce. If you have enough zucchini for another layer, repeat. Once you are done layering, cover the last layer with tomato sauce and top with the rest of the mozzarella and parmesan.
Bake for 45 minutes to an hour until mozzarella on top is nice and toasty. Set aside for at least fifteen minutes before slicing and serving with some additional tomato sauce over the top.
I have to confess that I’ve been using Victoria marinara sauce lately for quick meals. It’s absolutely delicious.
If you want to change this up, omit the spinach or add some cooked ground beef or sausage to the layers. Alternatively, make a bechamel sauce and do a white lasagna. It’s all up to you!
If you liked this recipe, you can find many more in my Cook’s Treat section of the website.
