Zucchini Lasagna $7.26

The name of this gives the implication that it is a lasagna with zucchini, which it is, however the trick here is the zucchini is used in place of pasta noodles. It is strictly a coincidence this week that we replaced two typical pastas with imposters, which happens to be vegetables! The first time I made this, it was a soupy mess, good, but a mess. I had read that sprinkling the vegetable with salt and letting them sit for 10 minutes or so, helps to eliminate of a lot of liquid that vegetables tend to contain, and it does, however, their was still more liquid to be had, and when baked in a pan with sauce, which is a liquid and cottage cheese, the zucchini became even wetter and the rest is history-soupy mess! So not to be daunted, I was thinking about it all night, and although the recipes I found did not say to cook the zuchini prior, I decided it was a good idea, and that is exactly what i did second time around, I lightly salted the zuchini strips, let them sit 10 minutes, then broiled them. This eliminated much of the moisture, but shrunk the zucchini, so I did have to go get another zucchini at the grocery store(and running to the store last minute is my pet peave in life, but I was on a mission) So I grabbed another zucchini, sliced it thin, salted, and broiled the stripes. assembled Lasagna, and baked. The result- less of a soupy mess, but still didnt hold up like I would want a lasagna to. Im on a mission though, and I am going to make it again, this time adding more parm cheese and bread crumbs with the cottage cheese, and eliminating the egg, so it will be drier..... I really want to master this lasagna because it was delicious, and very light tasting, yet it gave me the illusion of eating a pasta dish, but without all the gluten!

1 lb lean beef $2.29

3 cloves garlic .30

1/2 onion .15

1 tsp olive oil .20

salt and pepper .10



28 oz crushed can tomatoes $1.38

2 tbsp chopped basil .20

3 medium zucchini slices 1/8 inch $1.19

8oz shredded mozarella cheese $1.15

1/4 cup parm cheese .20
1/4 cup bread crumbs .10
1 egg .10



In a sauce pan brown meat and season with salt

drain in colender to remove fat

add olive oil to pan

saute garlic and onions

return meat to pan and add tomatoes and salt and pepper

simmer 30-40 minutes

meanwhile, slice zucchini 1/8 inch thick(if you have a mandolin that would be helpful)

salt zucchini and set aside for 10 minutes, zucchini has lots of water, if salted it helps to remove alot of moisture

broil or grill zucchini

combine cottage cheese, parm cheese, breadcrumbs, egg and basil



in a 13 x 9 pan coat bottom of pan with meat sauce

layer evenly with strips of zucchini, cottage cheese, mozzarella and repeat with sauce etc...

sprinkle parm cheese on the final layer