Mom's Zucchini Lasagna

One of the worst meals I remember from childhood was my mother's zucchini lasagna. Not because the meal was bad, I honestly don't even remember what it tasted like. On the other hand my father was not a fan of this meal and therefore it haunted my mother as the "worst" meal she ever cooked.

When I was looking for ways to get rid of the abundance of zucchini I had from out garden the famous zucchini lasagna came to mind. I decided the my family need to experience this meal! I am so glad that i decided to try this recipe because it was delicious.

Mom's Zucchini Lasagna

Ingredients

• 2 large zucchini
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 1/2 teaspoons black pepper
• 1 small green bell pepper, diced
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 cup tomato paste
• 1 (16 ounce) can tomato sauce (I used a jar of sauce)
• 1/4 cup red wine
• 2 tablespoons basil
• 1 tablespoon  oregano
• 1 egg
• 1 (15 ounce) container low-fat ricotta cheese
• 2 tablespoons  parsley
• 1 (16 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
• 1 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced ( I skipped these)
• 8 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese
• 8 ounces grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease a deep 9x13 inch baking pan.

Slice zucchini lengthwise into very thin slices. Sprinkle slices lightly with salt; set aside to drain in a colander. ( This was not easy to do any suggestions?)

To prepare the meat sauce, cook and stir ground beef and black pepper in a large skillet over medium high heat for 5 minutes. Add in green pepper and onion; cook and stir until meat is no longer pink. Stir in tomato paste, tomato sauce, wine, basil, and oregano, adding a small amount of hot water if sauce is too thick. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer sauce for about 20 minutes, stirring frequently.

Meanwhile, stir egg, ricotta, and parsley together in a bowl until well combined.

To assemble lasagna, spread 1/2 of the meat sauce into the bottom of prepared pan. Then layer 1/2 the zucchini slices, 1/2 the ricotta mixture, 1/2 of the spinach, followed by all of the mushrooms, then 1/2 the mozzarella cheese. Repeat by layering the remaining meat sauce, zucchini slices, ricotta mixture, spinach and mozzarella. Spread Parmesan cheese evenly over the top; cover with foil.

Bake for 45 minutes. Remove foil; raise oven temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C), and bake an additional 15 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

This is the lasagna that I made to freeze because we loved the recipe!