This recipe is a modification of what she gave me, but most of it is pretty similar. It was surprisingly simple! I've never made lasagna, but I'm definitely less afraid of it now!
Here is (some of) the cast of characters:
In this picture I've got 1 zucchini (although I really should have had 2...), onions, celery, garlic, tomato sauce, tomato paste, fat free ricotta, part skim mozzarella, and 93% lean ground turkey. Not pictured: fresh baby spinach, dried oregano, fresh basil, salt, pepper, olive oil, and parmesan cheese.
The thing I love about this recipe is that it's so filling, and the heaviest components are the turkey and the cheese--which aren't so terrible for you.
The first thing I did, even before leaving for the grocery, was peel and slice my zucchini into as think pieces as possible. My knife skills are a little sub-par, so these slices aren't really even. But they get the job done! Like I said, I definitely should have used more than one zucchini to have more of a pasta-like layer, but I worked with what I had.
After I sliced them, I sprinkled salt on each side of every zucchini slice and let them sit to pull out some of the extra moisture. Nobody likes watery lasagna. Just sayin'.
The first thing I did was heat up my "saucepan" (it's just a pot) and drop in some olive oil, minced garlic, and diced onions. I already had the garlic and onions prepared and chillin in my fridge, since I use both of those things frequently enough to just always keep them around. I'd say this was about 1/3 cup of diced onions and 1 clove of garlic. I would probably be a little more generous next time around.
Not pictured: I dropped in some celery last minute because I thought it would be nice.
I drizzled in just a tiny bit more olive oil (like a teaspoon?) and threw the turkey into the pot to brown it up with the onions and garlic on medium high heat. I forgot to season the meat though, so DON'T DO THAT. Salt and pepper goes a long way. After the turkey was all cooked through, I drained some of the excess water.
I dropped the temperature down to medium low and poured in two 8 oz cans of tomato sauce (not jarred sauce! There is a difference!) and about 1 tablespoon of tomato paste. If I were to use jarred sauce (which my mom did), I would just brown the turkey and pour the sauce over it. But I didn't have jarred sauce and these cans of tomato sauce have been sitting on the shelf for like six months. So I got it done.
At this point I went to taste the sauce and realized that I didn't season the turkey, so I just attacked the whole thing with salt and pepper. After that was all sorted out, I threw in about a tablespoon's worth of dried oregano.
I've declared my love for fresh basil on this blog before, and I still stand firm on that statement. I love basil. I chopped some up and threw it in the sauce, and took the sauce off the heat.
I also added some parmesan cheese because my mom told me to. This was about 1/4 cup. I mixed it all together and you know what? I probably could have stopped here and just poured it over some pasta. BUT THIS IS LASAGNA. So I carried on.
I sautéed a bunch of spinach with some garlic, and I used a little bit of olive oil to get the job done. I only made enough spinach for one layer, though, because I forgot about how much spinach cooks down and I actually needed to leave some fresh spinach for like...the rest of the meals I'm eating this week. Go figure. THEN I STARTED TO ASSEMBLE THE LASAGNA!!!
I only had one zucchini, so I used a smaller square pan. I think this is 9x9? Whatever. First step is to put some sauce down on the bottom!
The next step is to lay down some zucchini slices, or in my case, desperately stretch the amount of zucchini you have to cover one layer.
Of course, I patted the slices dry with paper towels because they were very wet at this point. Salt, man. It does the trick.
I've never actually made lasagna before, but my mom told me to put the ricotta down before the spinach?? I just did what she told me. I was skeptical about using fat free ricotta, but the final product actually wound up being pretty similar to regular ricotta so 100% would use again.
I laid down my one single layer of spinach down on top of the ricotta, and despite using almost an entire container's worth of spinach, I only had this dinky little sprinkling of spinach to show for it. Pathetic.
And then I started the whole thing all over again! Sauce, zucchini, ricotta, NO spinach because I ran out, and then one last layer of sauce. Mmm. Lasagna's are just like ogres. They have layers.
I used about 1 1/2 cups of mozzarella cheese to top off the lasagna, but you could definitely afford to use more. I was just trying to be portion-conscious, since I originally intended for this to be four servings. It wound up being six.
I popped the lasagna in a 350 degree oven for forty five minutes, and O M G when I pulled it out of the oven, this is was the beauty I beheld:
Cheesy, tomato-y, and SO SO SO delicious. It did wind up being a little watery, but a little water never hurt anybody! There's so much going on in this lasagna, that you don't really miss the pasta. The zucchini has such a lovely and neutral flavor and texture, so it acts to bulk up the dish and let the sauce and cheese be the stars. And boy were they stars. SHOW STOPPERS.
Mmmmmmmmmmmmm.
Here's the recipe:
Zucchini Lasagna
Ingredients:
-Zucchini (probably 2)
-1 lb of ground turkey
-1/2 onion, diced
-2 cloves of garlic, diced
-2 8 oz cans of tomato sauce
-1 tbsp of tomato paste
-2 cups of part skim mozzarella cheese
-1 15 oz container of fat free ricotta cheese
-About 3 cup of fresh spinach
-Salt & Pepper
-1 tbsp of dried oregano
-1 tbsp of fresh basil
-3 tbsp of olive oil
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
1.) Peel and slice the zucchini into thin strips, and place those strips on a tray in a single layer. Sprinkle with salt and flip to sprinkle the other side with salt. Let sit while you prepare the other layers.
2.) In a saucepan (or pot) on medium heat, sauté the onions and half of the garlic in about 1 tbsp of olive oil until the onions begin to look translucent.
3.) Add about 1 tsp of olive oil to the pan, and brown the turkey with the onions and garlic on medium high heat. Season the turkey with salt and pepper.
4.) Once the turkey is cooked through, add the cans of tomato sauce and the tomato paste and reduce heat to medium low. Stir occasionally until the sauce begins to thicken.
5.) Off the heat, add the oregano, basil, and parmesan cheese. Set aside for layering.
6.) Sauté the spinach with the remaining garlic and olive oil until the spinach has cooked down. Set aside, and begin layering.
7.) Layer the lasagna: Start with a layer of sauce on the bottom of a 9 x 9 inch pan. Cover with a layer of zucchini slices. Spread half of the ricotta cheese on top of the zucchini slices. Evenly layer the spinach on top of the ricotta. Repeat the process with another layer of sauce, zucchini slices, and ricotta. The final layer should be sauce covered with the mozzarella cheese.
8.) Place the lasagna in a 350 degree oven and cook for 45 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and starting to look brown around the edges.
9.) Enjoy! Serves 6.
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