The highlight of my summer cooking has been preparing zucchini lasagna. This recipe will feed four. I selected a uniform shaped zucchini, medium size. Plus I ventured to try my hand at using a mandolin again. This time with careful success. I prepped the zucchini first and for the center cut with seeds and pith, I cut that out. You could choose to peel the skin, but if you cut the zucchini 1/8 inch wide, the skin is not cumbersome to eat. Ricotta, as it is plain, is rather like eating clay. But with a few add-in ingredients, it is delightful! I use a low fat ground beef, so using olive oil is a must.

Ingredients

Zucchini, medium

Ground beef, 1 lb

Spaghetti sauce, one jar

Onion, ½ chopped

Garlic cloves, 3 chopped

Bell pepper, one small, chopped

Olive oil, 2 tbsp

Worcestershire sauce, 2 tsp

Onion powder, ¼ tsp

Garlic granules, ¼ tsp

Ricotta, 1 and ½ cups

Mozzarella, 1 and ½ lbs grated

Basil, dried, 2 tbsp

Parmesan, ¼ cup, optional

Egg, one

Salt & pepper, to taste

Preparation

After slicing the zucchini, prepping in this manner is optional. Cover a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Lay the zucchini slices in single layer on top of the parchment paper. Salt both sides, using coarse salt. Allow to sit for ten minutes and blot dry. Bake at 375 degrees F for ten minutes. Blot dry again. Set aside. Prep the meat mixture. Brown the ground beef, mixing in the onion, garlic and bell pepper. Season with onion powder, garlic granules and Worcestershire sauce. When browned to your liking, add in the spaghetti sauce, stir well and simmer. Next prepare the ricotta by mixing in the egg, parmesan and basil. The layering begins and how you do it, is up to you. I start with a layer of meat mixture, then zucchini slices, then the ricotta layer. Sprinkle the mozzarella over. I did a second layer of zucchini slices. Before finishing off the other layers. The top layer being a generous amount of grated mozzarella. Bake at 375 F for 45 minutes.

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