Now is the time of year when garden surpluses begin… Our garden hasn’t been the most productive, unfortunately the deer discovered the tomatoes, bell peppers, and peas – and the plants were totally devastated. They are on the mend now, and we will probably have a smaller, later, harvest, but definitely not as bountiful as I hoped. Next year I am going to get a mesh fence and cover them as inconspicuously as possible.

However – we have been fortunate enough to receive several garden gifts from other family members. We got a garbage bag full of fresh lettuce (very fresh – there were still a few earwigs in the bag) and three zucchinis the size of small watermelons! (the largest one was substantially bigger than the prize winning biggest zucchini at the Monroe County Fair)

So with an over abundance of zucchini I was looking for something other than grilling it, making bread, or eating it raw in salads… and that’s when I stumbled on this recipe for zucchini lasagna!

It’s a great recipe that uses stuff most of us have on hand (I only had to buy ricotta cheese), and it was not that difficult to make.

We both gave it rave reviews, so next time I have a 10 lb zucchini I am going to make it again.

Unfortunately I didn’t take photos of the cooking process, but I was able to find a few photos online from others who have made it. For the rest, you’ll just have to use your imagination.

Zucchini Lasagna:

Ingredients:

• 1 large or 2 medium zucchini sliced in to 1/4″ pieces. (About 2 1/2 cups total) - I ended up using only about 1/2 of our largest one and got about 9 full sized slices the size of regular lasagna noodles
• 1/2 – 1 lb ground meat – I used 1 lb ground beef, because they come in that size pre-frozen from the local meat market, and I didn’t want to leave any unused
• 1/4 onion, chopped
• 1 can tomato paste (6 oz)
• 2 small chopped tomatoes - I just sliced them and kept them bigger
• 1 clove minced garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil - I used fresh (also from the garden) and chopped it up, about 1 full teaspoon, 6-8 leaves
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper and salt (aka. a dash to taste)
• 1 cup low fat ricotta cheese – I didn’t want any leftovers so I used almost two cups, the entire smallest container of 15oz
• 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese - I grated it fresh from a block we had in the fridge

Steps:

1. Cook the zucchini until tender (I lay the strips out in a large pan and just barely covered in water, then boiled for about 5 minutes until they were partially cooked.)
2. At the same time brown the meat with the onions. When done drain the fat.
3. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
4. Add the tomato paste, chopped tomatoes, minced garlic, oregano, basil, thyme, water, and pepper – mix well and bring the whole thing to a boil (This was really fast, I let it simmer for 3-5 minutes to blend the flavors. I also added a pinch of salt with the pepper)
5. They suggested mixing an egg with the ricotta cheese, but I don’t like doing that so I just put the ricotta on plain. If you normally mix an egg in you should do that next.
6. Then in a large casserole dish layer the ingredients:

   meat mixture
   zucchini layer (like noodles)
   ricotta cheese
   mozzarella cheese (leave a little out, put about 1/2 or 3/4 in this layer)
   meat again
   zucchini again

7. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes. Then top with the remaining mozzarella cheese and bake for another 10 minutes, until slightly browned and bubbly.

Let sit for 10 minutes before eating. (This step really does make a difference! We didn’t wait for the first helping, and it was very runny – but by the time we got seconds it had firmed up well)

photo credit: Gina’s Weight Watchers Recipes

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2. Making your own container garden for a small patio
3. Frugal Recipe: Homemade Calzones
4. Frugal Recipe: Bruschetta Chicken, aka Healthy Chicken Parmesan
5. Extra Income: Mystery Shopping and Online Surveys

Tagged as: Cooking and Frugality