I used to have lasagna once a year. Christmas Eve at my mom-mom’s house. To be honest, I wasn’t a big fan of it at the time. Or rather, I wanted to play with my cousins and open presents instead of eating. Food in general just had no appeal to me.
I don’t understand the mindset of my younger self.
Anyway, my grocery store is getting in more zucchini and I wanted to try to establish a good relationship with lasagna by making… zucchini lasagna!
Now I can finally feel that I can relate to Garfield 😉
Zucchini Lasagna (Noodle-Free)
Ingredients:
3 medium-large zucchinis
salt
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1 – 1.5 lbs ground meat
1 onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp dried basil
1 tbsp dried oregano
2 tsp parsley
1 tsp thyme
pepper and salt
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 (28oz) can fire roasted crushed tomatoes
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1 (15oz) container of whole milk ricotta cheese
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 egg
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2 and 1/4 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
Directions:
Make zucchini into noodles by either using a peeler, or carefully cutting zucchini with a knife. Lay slices on paper towels and sprinkle with salt. Let sit to make zucchini “sweat.”
Brown meat in a deep skillet and then add onion, garlic, basil, oregano, parsley, thyme, crushed red pepper, salt and pepper. Cook for 5 minutes. Add in tomatoes and bring to a boil. Once boiling, turn down to a simmer and let cook for 30 minutes (you want a thick sauce).
In a bowl, combine ricotta, parmesan, and egg. Set aside.
Preheat the oven to 375 and grease a 9×13 baking dish. Remove “sweat” from zucchinis with a paper towel and use half the zucchini slices to make the first layer. Top with half of the ricotta and spread. Top with 3/4 cup mozzarella. Top again with half of the meat sauce. Repeat all layers. Once you get to the last meat sauce layer, top with the remaining 3/4 cup mozzarella. Cover baking dish with aluminum foil and bake for 40 minutes. Let cool for 20 minutes before eating.
Health Without Sacrifice 