Thursday, July 12, 2007

Zucchini Lasagna


As I am sure you can tell from my previous post zucchini will be making
a LOT of appearances in the next month or so. I have so much I have no
idea what to do with it. After a lot of searching I decided the
gigantic zucchini would be best suited for lasagna! I searched and
searched and I never found a recipe that sounded quite right. A lot of
them used zucchini AND lasagna noodles and I really just wanted to use
the zucchini (since I have mountains of it!) So I decided to just make
my usual lasagna and used the zucchini instead of noodles.

My recipe for: Zucchini Lasagna

Ingredients-
One HUGE zucchini or a 2 medium size ones
1 package light Italian sausage (the tube like packages)
2 cups pasta sauce (I used my own but jarred is fine)
3 cloves fresh garlic
Dry spices - basil, oregano, parsley
1 16 oz container ricotta cheese
1 egg
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
3-4 leaves fresh basil chopped
1 cup shredded fresh mozzarella
1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese

Slice the zucchini into long strips about 1/8-1/4 of inch thick.
Bring a big pot of water to a boil.
In a skillet start browning the Italian
sausage. When it is fully cooked add the pasta sauce and let simmer for
about 10 minutes. At this point I also like to add the fresh garlic and
some more dry spices. Just to taste.
Drop the zucchini strips into the boiling water and remove after 4 minutes. They should be softer but not falling apart.
While the zucchini is cooking combine the ricotta cheese, egg, Parmesan cheese and basil in a bowl.
In a big baking dish spread 1/2 cup of the pasta sauce mixture. Then lay
out zucchini strips to cover. On top of the zucchini spread 1/2 of the ricotta
cheese mixture. Next a layer of meat sauce. Then I like to sprinkle a
handful of mozzarella cheese. Repeat the layer process again, zucchini, ricotta sauce. To top it off lay out another layer of zucchini strips followed by pasta sauce
and then a really big handful of mozzarella cheese and a sprinkle of Parmesan.
Bake at 375 for about 45 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.

2 comments:

  1. you might not believe me, but I have been eagerly waiting for you to post the zucchini lasagna! (I remember when you were looking for recipes, and it intrigued me.) Looks delicious!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for this recipe. I'm making it tonight!

    ReplyDelete

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