I am a firm believer in the power of Italian comfort food, especially a rich lasagna. This take on a classic replaces lasagna noodles with roasted zucchini. Roasting the zucchini adds additional flavor and removes much of the water from the vegetable that can turn this dish into a soupy mess.
I always start with a homemade (but not difficult) meat sauce with both sweet Italian sausage and ground sirloin.
Recipe: Zucchini Lasagna
Ingredients
8 oz ground Italian sausage
1 lb ground sirloin
1 large yellow onion, diced
1 large green bell pepper, diced
8 oz to 1 lb sliced baby portablella mushrooms (optional, and amount is to your preference)
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 28 oz can of whole, peeled tomatoes (I use Cento for my red sauce)
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
6 oz tomato paste
2 TB brown sugar
1 TB dried basil
1 TB dried oregano
sea salt
fresh cracked pepper
a few TBs extra virgin olive oil
6 – 8 large zucchini squash
1 cup ricotta cheese
1 large egg
2 cups shredded mozzarella (I like a lot of cheese)
6 oz shredded parmesan
First up is the sauce:
In a large stock pot, place a few turns (very scientific) of extra virgin olive oil along with the onion and bell pepper. Saute and stir frequently for 5 minutes or so on medium heat. Add the ground sirloin, sausage, and the garlic. Stir periodically until the onions are translucent and the meat has browned.
Pour in both cans of tomatoes as well as the paste. Spend a little time breaking up the whole tomatoes with a wooden spoon. Reduce the heat. Add brown sugar, dried herbs, salt, and pepper. Let simmer for a half hour or so.
Now onto the rest of the lasagna.
While my sauce is simmering on low (you don’t want to bring it to a true boil), I slice up about 6 zucchini — or yellow summer squash would do — and spread them out on two lightly greased cookie sheets.
Brush with olive oil, sea salt, and freshly cracked pepper. Roast for about 15 mins in a 400 degree oven until soft and pliable.
Once these come out of the oven, it is time to assemble in a lightly greased 9 x 9 Pyrex dish (which should easily feed a family of 4 to 5).
Make sure your oven is heated to 350.
Mix the ricotta and the egg together very well.
Then, here is how I assemble in the dish in thin layers:
- roasted zucchini
- ricotta and egg
- red sauce
- shredded mozzarella
- a sprinkle of parmesan
- roasted zucchini
- ricotta and egg
- red sauce
- shredded mozzarella
- a sprinkle of parmesan
- roasted zucchini
- just a bit of red sauce
- red sauce
- a good handful of parmesan
- top off with a bit of mozzarella (I told you, we like cheese around here)
Bake in a 350 oven for 40 minutes.
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