Zucchini Lasagna

We are trying to cut back on our carbs, but hopefully not some of our favorite meals. One of those happen to be lasagna. After skimming through some alternatives, I came across a recipe that used zucchini instead of noodles. I loved the idea but didn't care for the recipe, so I tweaked it a little bit. The end result was this.

It wasn't perfectly pretty, but I have a few changes the next time I make it. Instead of lasagna noodles soaking up the extra water in the sauce, the zucchini actually produced water. So while it was runnier than what we are used to, it was still completely delish.  Next time I will make a thicker sauce with less water and I may even try to pull some of the moisture out of the zucchini with a salt bath.

Here is the recipe as I made it last night.

Ingredients

1 26.5 oz of your favorite spaghetti sauce or make your own (I made my own for this)

1 egg

1 16 oz ball of mozzarella, grated

2  Large Zucchini

1/2 lb sausage

1/2 lb ground beef

1/4 cup grated cheddar

salt and pepper

Brown sausage and ground beef. Salt and pepper to taste.

Add whisked egg to spaghetti sauce (this prevents the lasagna from collapsing when you pull a slice out.)

Slice zucchini on a mandolin, about 1/4 inch thick.

In a 9x9 pan add a few small spoons of sauce. Place a single of zucchini, cutting when necessary to lay flat. Add 1/3 of the meat, then a 1/3 of sauce, topping with 1/3 of mozzarella cheese. Repeat two more times. Then sprinkle with cheddar cheese.

Cut a piece of foil big enough to totally cover your pan. Spray with nonstick spray and lay (spray side down) on top of lasagna, bending the edges over. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes. Remove foil then bake another 8-10 minutes until cheese is gold and bubbly. Remove from over and let it sit for 10 minutes to allow the sauce to set.

So delicious! You couldn't even tell there were no noddles. For as long as I baked it, the noodles were still a little crisp but not undone. It was a welcomed texture change. I will make this again.