Zucchini Lasagna

I've been on the fence for a while about whether I should buy a spiralizer. I want to make rutabaga noodles so badly, but I can't seem to bring myself to purchase another kitchen gadget. I've made zoodles by hand with my julienne peeler, but it's a huge pain. After adding the spiralizer to my cart on Amazon several times and then taking it back out again, I've decided that I'm going to ask for one for my birthday next month (are you reading this, Mom?). I won't feel as bad about getting yet another cooking tool if it is a gift from my wonderful mother.

In the meantime, I was excited to find this zucchini lasagna over on Sarah and Tim's blog, Curious Cuisiniere, because it uses veggie noodles that you don't need any special gadgets to make. Strips of zucchini stand in for lasagna noodles, but all the great Italian flavors and delicious textures of the original dish still come through.

Curious Cuisiniere was my assignment for this month's Secret Recipe Club reveal, and I had a great time perusing the site to choose a dish. I noticed that this recipe isn't their only noodle-free lasagna--they also have a butternut squash lasagna that I'm planning to try in the fall. Sarah and Tim also have recipes from countries all around the world, and the best part is that they have an interactive map that helps you explore food from different regions. Click on India, for example, and you'll be taken to a page with all of the Indian recipes on Curious Cuisiniere. So cool! If you're looking to expand your palate and cooking repertoire with some food from faraway lands, their blog is the place to do it.

So, back to this lasagna. If you've been reading my blog for a while, you know I've been posting only grain-free recipes since the summer of 2013, and that I post mainly paleo recipes but do occasionally include dairy. My original plan was to try to keep this lasagna dairy-free by making macadamia nut ricotta and vegan parmesan cheese to go in it. However, I could not find any macadamia nuts at the store, so I bought a tub of regular, full-fat ricotta (and then decided to buy actual parmigiano reggiano as well, in keeping with the real-cheese theme).

When I got home, I was so excited about the ricotta (Narraganset Creamery's version is one of my favorite things ever) that I temporarily forgot it was supposed to be for the lasagna and made it into a delicious pie for dessert (see it here). Oops. I then looked back at the original lasagna recipe and realized it called for mozzarella, so I asked my mom, who was coming for dinner, to bring some over. I am really glad I went with the mozzarella, because the melty, stretchy cheese makes this dish extra special.

Other than adding parmesan, I only made a couple of changes to Sarah and Tim's original recipe. I doubled the recipe and made it in a bigger pan, and I also used store-bought marinara sauce to save a little time. I did, however, add some red wine and paprika to the sauce, as suggested by Sarah and Tim, to give it more flavor. (I also added a tiny bit of fish sauce for extra umami, but you can leave that out if you don't have any.)

I was really happy with how this turned out: it was just as filling and comforting as regular lasagna, but I felt virtuous about the extra veggies and lack of grains. I hope you give this low-carb lasagna a try!

Zucchini Lasagna
Yield: 6-8 servings
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 1 hour

Ingredients (adapted from Curious Cuisiniere):

4 medium zucchini
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 pound ground beef
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons red wine
1/4 teaspoon bittersweet smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon fish sauce (optional)
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups marinara sauce (I used Rao's)
Small handful of fresh basil, chopped, plus more for serving
1 pound mozzarella cheese, grated
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Trim the ends off the zucchini and cut them lengthwise into strips about 1/4 of an inch thick (I don't have one, but a mandolin would be great for this). You don't need to worry about making all the slices perfectly even, but try to err on the side of making them too thin instead of too thick. Sprinkle the kosher salt on both sides of the zucchini slices and let them sit on top of paper towels or a wire rack while you make the meat sauce.

Heat a large skillet over high heat. Add the beef and cook, breaking up the meat with a spatula, until no longer pink. Lower the heat to medium high, add the onion, and cook, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes, until the onion softens. Add the wine and let it bubble away for a minute. Stir the paprika, fish sauce, and a bit of salt and pepper (keeping in mind that your sauce is likely already salted, and the zucchini has been salted as well--I only added a pinch). Add the marinara along with 1/4 cup of water, stir well, and reduce the heat so the sauce simmers. Cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until nice and thick. Turn off the heat and stir in the basil.

Grease a 9x13-inch baking dish with a little olive oil. Pat the zucchini dry and line the bottom of the pan with a single layer of zucchini slices. Spread half the meat sauce on top of the zucchini. Sprinkle on 1/3 of the mozzarella and then 1/3 of the parmesan cheese. Add another layer of zucchini slices followed by the rest of the meat sauce, 1/3 of the mozzarella, and 1/3 of the parmesan. Put on a final layer of zucchini slices and top them with the remaining cheese and a little freshly ground black pepper.

Grease a piece of foil a little bigger than your pan and use it to cover the pan (greasing the foil helps keep it from sticking to the cheese). Bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil, raise the oven temperature to 400°F, and bake for about 10 more minutes, until all the cheese is melted and the lasagna is bubbling. Let the lasagna rest for at least 10 minutes, then slice and serve, topped with fresh basil if desired.

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