Zucchini Lasagna

Zucchini lasagna...how does it sound to you?  When I first heard it, I was intrigued, because I grew up eating my mom's spinach lasagna, and never knew that veggies in lasagna was akin to sacrelige among some people.

The original idea for this recipe came from a coworker's mom, in a simpler form, but I changed it a bit--including the introduction of noodles.  When I made it sans noodles, you literally had to drain the pieces--not appetizing at all, although it tasted great!  The zucchini lightens up what can be a really heavy-tasting dish into something, while not light, per se, is much easier to stomach on a warm, late summer evening.

It is built much like a simple lasagna--noodles, cheese, sauce.  No fancy bechamel--this version doesn't even have you make your own tomato sauce, but if you're so inclined then do so!  In fact, making sauce is so simple I'm ashamed to sometimes be lazy enough to buy the store-bought stuff...but when inspiration for what to cook for dinner cannot be found, I'm always glad to have a jar of it in the cupboard.

Recipe after the jump!

Easy Zucchini Lasagna

    *   2 large zucchini

    * 1 teaspoon salt

    * 1/2 pound ground beef

    * 1 1/2 teaspoons ground black pepper

    * 1 small green bell pepper, diced (optional)

    * 1 onion, diced
    * 2-3 cloves garlic, minced

    * 2 Tbsp tomato paste
    * 2 Tbsp fresh basil, finely chopped

    * 3 cups prepared marinara sauce

    * 1 egg

    * 1 (15 ounce) container low-fat cottage cheese

    * 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

    * 8-10 no-cook lasagna noodles

    * 8 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese

    * 8 ounces grated Parmesan cheese

   1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F; grease a deep 9x13 inch baking pan.

   2. Slice zucchini lengthwise into very thin slices. Sprinkle slices lightly with salt; set aside to drain in a colander.

   3. To prepare the meat sauce, sauté onion and green pepper until starting to soften, then stir in garlic and cook for 1 minute.  Add ground beef; cook and stir until meat is no longer pink; drain (if needed). Stir in tomato paste and allow color to darken, then stir in pasta sauce and basil. Allow to simmer 5-10 minutes for flavors to come together.

   4. Meanwhile, stir egg, cottage cheese, ½ of the parmesan, 1/2 of the mozzerella, and parsley together in a bowl until well combined.

   5. To assemble lasagna, spread 1/3 of the meat sauce into the bottom of prepared pan. Then layer 1/3 of the noodles, ½ of the zucchini slices, then ½ of the ricotta mixture. Repeat with 1/3 meat sauce, noodles, zucchini slices, and ricotta mixture.  Top with remaining noodles, remaining meat sauce, and remaining mozzarella. Spread Parmesan cheese evenly over the top, cover with foil.

   6. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake an additional 30 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving. Can bake longer if it seems watery.