Hey! Welcome back! I am so excited to share this week’s dish with you. This week I want to share a recipe that is both comforting and bursting with flavor.
I know after the holidays many people jump on the diet or weight loss train at full speed. I try not to deprive myself of the things I love, but rather have them in moderation. That said I love pasta — I mean I was born in Italy and am a tiny bit Sicilian — but pasta doesn’t always love the waistline. This week I am going to share a classic Italian comfort food without the carbs! So, put on your aprons and let’s get started on a noodle-less lasagna!
For this dish you will need:
• 1 lb ground beef (I use 97% lean)
• 1 lb ground Italian sausage
• 1 large onion
• 1-2 zucchini
• Sliced mushrooms – however many your heart desires
• 2 jars Bertoli organic garlic marinara
• 3 cloves of garlic minced
• 2 cups ricotta cheese
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
• ½ cup parmesan cheese
• ¼ cup chopped parsley
• 2-3 cups shredded mozzarella OR 2-3 fresh mozzarella balls
• Salt & pepper
• Italian seasoning
First, you will want to get the ground beef and ground sausage cooking on medium-high heat in a skillet. While that cooks, you will want to slice the ends off the zucchini and peel it with a vegetable peeler. If you have a mandolin, use that to make long thin strips of zucchini — this will replace the noodles. If you don’t have a mandolin then slice the zucchini as thinly as you can.
I didn’t have a mandolin for years and I always sliced it by hand; the strips don’t have to be perfect. Set the strips of zucchini aside and grab a bowl to mix up the ricotta, but don’t forget to stir the ground meat mixture.
In a medium-sized bowl mix the ricotta, egg, parmesan, chopped parsley and one clove of freshly minced garlic. Set the ricotta mix aside and go back to your pan of ground meats. Use your spoon or spatula to make sure the meat is chopped into smaller pieces then put the ground meat mixture into a colander to drain any excess grease.
Leave the meat there to drain but return the pan to the stove and put in the olive oil, diced onion, mushrooms and the other two cloves of freshly minced garlic. Cook this down for about 5 minutes and add about 1 ½ jars of the marinara and the ground meat mixture. Let this simmer for 5-8 minutes adding salt and pepper and dried Italian seasoning to taste. Now let’s put this lasagna together!
Use a large pan like a 9 x 13 and spread a little bit of your sauce mix on the bottom of the pan then lay down zucchini strips to cover the sauce mixture. Next spread a thin layer of the ricotta mixture on top of the zucchini strips and repeat the process ending with the meat sauce mixture on top. Spread the shredded mozzarella on top and bake at 350 degrees for about 25-30 minutes. You will want the cheese on top to be bubbly and a beautiful golden color. Serve with garlic bread and a small side salad and voila dinner is done!
Feel free to change this up to suit your family – you could omit the meat and add more veggies, you could use eggplant instead of zucchini, you could even swap out alfredo sauce for the marinara sauce if that’s more your thing. You could even prepare the ingredients then mix them together with some added beef broth making it into a soup and top it with parmesan cheese for a noodle-less deconstructed lasagna soup.
Remember to think outside the box and my recipe is meant to inspire you to prepare something new! I hope you and your family enjoy this dish and as always, I am sending love from my kitchen to yours.
Lindsey lives in White Sulphur Springs with her wife, Candi, and their nephew Austin. By day Lindsey is a Service Coordinator at Seneca Health Services in the IDD/Waiver program. Lindsey enjoys spending time with family and friends, entertaining when possible but most importantly she loves cooking from the heart.
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