ZUCCHINI LASAGNA IS THE SH*T!!! hahah it’s not the quickest meal in the world, but great for meal prep, tastes like lasagna but added nutrients with zucchini noodles, and great for the whole family. The great thing about this recipe is you can load it uppp with any vegetable that you have at home… You could add eggplant, mushrooms, sweet potato or spinach as one of the layers, as well! Such an easy way to use up veggies that are about to turn or just load up on veggies if you’ve been slacking recently!
PS. This serves around 6 people! I made for my boyfriend and I, but we had it for dinner for the next two nights as well.
Here is what you will need:
- 2-3 zucchinis (mine were large so I used 2, but 3 is probably safe to buy)
- 1/2 onion, diced
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 package/1lb ground turkey (I used ground turkey because it’s lean and full of protein but use whatever ground meat you prefer)
- 3 cups tomato sauce/marinara/ pasta sauce
- 1 1/2 cup ricotta cheese (you can use a whole milk ricotta too which will give your lasagna a creamier taste)
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- ½ cup shredded parmesan cheese
- 1 egg
- 1 Tsp, dried basil to top
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- Salt and pepper to taste
3 Main Prep Steps:
Sliced zucchini: cut the zucchini up into thin slices. Once you have the zucchini all sliced up, I like to lightly pan fry the slices in about 1 Tbsp. of olive oil because it cuts down on the overall cook time in the oven! If you prefer your zucchini to have a little more crunch to it or would rather cook for an extra 10 minutes in the oven, feel free to skip this step, but I don’t recommend.
Tomato/ground turkey sauce: In a sauté pan, throw in the onions, garlic, and brown the ground turkey until it is fully cooked through! Then stir in your favorite pasta sauce! 3 cups for me equalled the entire jar.
Cheese mix: Mix 1 cup of ricotta, 1 egg, ½ cup of shredded mozzarella and ½ cup shredded parmesan in a bowl! You can alsoadd salt, pepper and dried basil. You should have a beautiful fluffy and creamy cheese mixture!
Now it is time to put it all together:
Layer the turkey tomato sauce first, then zucchini, then ricotta mix, then a touch of shredded mozz. Then back to meat sauce and keep layering for a total of 3 times.
Then, you can top with the extra cheese (mozz and parm) OR use another form of mozzarella- thin slices to top!
Then put this baby in the oven @ 420 degrees for about 30 minutes or until it is bubbling! If you like a crispier top, feel free to pop back in the oven on broil for about 2 minutes or until the cheese on top has a nice golden-brown color!
Hope y’all enjoy!!!
xx
