Today on The Stay At Home Chef I'm showing you how to make Zucchini Lasagna
This is a great low-carb option to enjoy a classic lasagna. Instead of using pasta,
we're gonna use zucchini. To start you want to slice your zucchini into long
thin strips like they're pasta. You can do this with a sharp knife or you can use a
mandolin. You can see that you end up with these long little strips like pasta sheets.
You'll want to cut up four to five zucchini and then transfer all of
the strips into a colander. Sprinkle on some salt
and we're gonna toss these together and the salt will draw out any excess
moisture so we don't end up with a soggy lasagna. Then we'll let the zucchini sit
while we cook our sauce in a large pot over medium-high heat. You'll need one
pound of lean ground beef and one pound of ground Italian sausage. Use a spoon to
break up the meat and get it browning. Once your meat is starting to brown off
you'll want to add in one white diced onion and get that cooking in there as well.
After about five minutes the onions will start to get tender you can see why
I used a lean ground beef because there's hardly any grease left in the
bottom but if you do have a lot of grease now is the time to drain it.
Next add in five cloves of minced garlic and let this cook for about one minute.
Just enough time for it to release its flavor then pour in 28 ounces of crushed tomatoes
I love using preserved tomatoes this way and 15 ounces of pureed tomatoes
which is called tomato sauce or pasatta depending on where you're located
Then you'll need two cans or 12 ounces of tomato paste and the cool little
trick is to open it on both ends with a can opener and then it slides right out
and you can grab the top tab on top the second one in there whoops grab off that can
This is why you rinse your cans before you open them and then stir this
all together. Pour in half a cup of red cooking wine or you can use beef broth
or chicken broth or even grape juice. Add in one tablespoon of sugar to balance
the acidity of the tomatoes. Although that is optional if sugar offends you.
You'll also need 1 teaspoon of dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper
1/2 cup of freshly chopped basil and 1/4 cup of minced parsley.
We're gonna stir this all in. All right let this simmer on the stove until you're
ready to assemble your lasagna. Then we'll bring the zucchini over to the
sink and rinse off all that salt. I'm gonna spread it out onto some paper
towels and then pat them all dry. You don't want to end up with a soggy lasagna.
Now instead of a bechamel today I want to use a ricotta mixture. I love
that as a filling in lasagna so we're gonna make that next. You'll need
30 ounces of whole milk ricotta cheese. You just want to get that into a large
mixing bowl and to that we will add 2 tablespoons of minced parsley, 1 large
egg, 1/2 a teaspoon of salt. I like to add in just a pinch of nutmeg and stir this
all together. Once that's mixed together grab one pound of freshly grated
mozzarella cheese and 1 cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese and we are gonna
be ready to assemble our lasagna. To assemble we're gonna spread just a
little bit of the sauce on to the bottom of a lightly greased 9 by 13 pan.
Now you'll notice I'm using a deep dish lasagna pan it's a couple inches deeper
than your standard 9 by 13 pan. This will allow me to create more layers in my
lasagna and it's totally worth it. Next you'll want to create a layer of
zucchini so just lay them out to cover the entire bottom of the pan
Next we'll spread on about a third of our ricotta mixture right over that
layer of zucchini. Then we'll add on more of our meat sauce
and get that covering spilling everywhere. You'll want to make sure you
clean up the pan as you go. Top your meat sauce off with some of that shredded
mozzarella cheese and then 1/4 cup of our Parmesan cheese
now that's 1 complete layer so I'm gonna make 3 layers because I have that deep
dish lasagna pan. If you have just a regular 9 by 13 you'll probably only get
two layers out of this so I'll add on more zucchini until we get to the top
Now once you get to the top layer you'll add on another final layer a fourth
layer or third if you're using a smaller pan of zucchini and then cover that with
a little bit of your meat sauce. Then the rest of your mozzarella cheese
and the rest of your parmesan. If you have any leftover meat sauce you can
always freeze that for later use. Next we're gonna bake this in a 375-degree
oven uncovered for about one hour. Let it sit for 10 to 15 minutes to make it
easier to slice and serve. We are ready to eat!
Thanks for watching!
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