I’ve been cooking with zucchini quite a lot lately. I think I appreciate it more nowadays. We’ve developed a relationship, and I’m good with that. I discovered that you can make lasagna out of it, but it does take a lot of work to make the noodles. With my low carb lasagna casserole, it’s easier to whip up and have a nice dinner for the family.
It’s a versatile fruit (yes, it’s a fruit). It can be shredded up and used in bread, cupcakes, fritters, or muffins. It can be julienned and made into mock noodles. Sauteed, roasted or baked…I can think of a million ways. I’ve also used it to make lasagna. It’s a bit of work to do that though, and I was lazy the other day, so I wanted to figure out how I could make zucchini lasagna without having to make the noodles. So I tried just chopping it up…and it was just as good!
So if you’re feeling lazy and want to whip up a zucchini lasagna, might I suggest doing a casserole instead? I didn’t have ricotta to layer in because I made it on a whim so I just used mozzarella, but feel free to layer in ricotta. You can also use hamburger meat in place of the sausage. It’ll taste just like lasagna! – minus the flour noodles – cuz who needs those?
Keto & Low Carb Lasagna Casserole
Ingredients
- 4 medium zucchinis roughly 2 cups, sliced lengthwise, then into ¼” slices to create half-moons
- 1 onion chopped
- 1 lb sausage mild Italian worked for me
- ½ Tbsp tomato paste
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- 2 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1/2 cup ricotta optional
- 1 egg
- ½ cup shredded mozzarella if using ricotta, knock the mozzarella back to 1/4 cup
- ½ tsp salt & pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°.
- Preheat a skillet over medium heat. When pan is hot, throw in sausage. Cook til just about done.
- Add onions, zucchini, Italian seasonings, salt, and pepper. Cook about 7 minutes, until the zucchini starts to get tender and some juices release.
- Lower the heat to medium-low and add in the heavy cream and tomato paste. Mix thoroughly and coat the veggies. Cook for about 3 minutes. The juice in the pan will start to thicken up a bit. Take off the heat.
- In a separate bowl thoroughly mix the ricotta with the egg and add a pinch of salt.
- Time to layer it up!
- To a 9×5 casserole dish, add a thin layer of the zucchini/sausage mix. Add a layer of the ricotta. Repeat your layers, finishing with the zucchini as the last layer. Top with the shredded mozzarella, and cover the dish with foil.
- Bake for 45 minutes. Take off the foil and cook for 10-15 minutes more until the cheese is melty and browned.
1 comment
This is so good!! I have not been a big fan of substituting zucchini in recipes but this looked so inviting I had to try it and Wow! I am sold. It was SO good!! Thanks for the inspiration!!