I have been making a lasagna with zucchini in lieu of noodles for some time now. I love Hungry Girl recipes, and I started out with her Veggie-riffic Noodle-Free Lasagna Recipe (http://www.hungry-girl.com/show/more-surprises-shockers-and-swaps-veggie-rific-noodle-free-lasagna-recipe) and have been following it's general outline for a couple of years now in my own kitchen.
I made up a big batch of Bolognese sauce (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwyCUOijLeE) to be the base of the recipe.
The thing that always takes FOREVER when I have made this recipe in the past has been the cooking of the zucchini and eggplant. This time, I told Husband that I was going to try an experiment. I would slice the zucchini thin and put it into the lasagna raw. I did not use eggplant, because (a) it was more expensive than I wanted to pay for, and (b) I did not think I could slice eggplant thin enough to allow it to really soften in the 40 minutes that the lasagna would be in the oven.
In this recipe, I added a HIGH volume of veggies. This bulked up my bolognese sauce and made it last long enough to create three large pans of lasagna. Three large pans!
Ingredients:
2 containers Zucchini @ 1.29 per container $ 2.58
4 slices of bacon - diced $ .60
2 lbs ground turkey @ 1.69 each $ 3.38
6 large carrots, grated $ .75
6 stalks celery, diced $ .75
3 onions, diced $ .60
1 8oz clamshell of mushrooms $ 1.59
4 cloves garlic, pressed $ .50
Red Wine $ .75
3 cans spaghetti sauce @ 1.10 each $ 3.30
dollop of heavy whipping cream $ .20
1/2 stick of butter $ .25
3 bags of shredded cheese @ 3.29 $ 9.87
1 dozen eggs $ 1.19
2 containers cottage cheese 2 @ 2.29 $ 4.58
1 9oz bag spinach $ 1.69
Salt and Pepper $ .25
TOTAL = $32.83
Bolognese Sauce:
Melt 1/2 a stick of butter in your pot. Add diced bacon, and brown until crispy. Add diced onions, salt them so they start losing their water and heat until caramelized. Add celery and carrots, heat until wilted. Add mushrooms and garlic until warmed. Add ground meat of choice and brown. Once meat is browned, add 1/2 to 3/4 cup of red wine. Once the wine is absorbed or cooked out, add your spaghetti sauce. I was lucky enough to get some jars of sauce from a friend of mine that she put up from her tomatoes least year, then slow roasted, then blended and cooked with some olive oil and oregano before canning. To get the price above, I checked this week's Harp's circular. When everything is done, and the sauce has been simmering for 30-45 minutes, add the heavy whipping cream and stir until fully integrated.
Zucchini (noodle) layer:
The containers of zucchini each had three good sized zucchini's in them. I want to say that each container was marked at 1 lb, but I cannot be sure, since I tossed the containers when I washed the zucchini without noting any weight. However, it seems to me that three medium/large zucchini's may be more than 1 lb. So, 6 med/lg zucchini's, of which I had 1 1/2 remaining. Basically,4 1/2 zucchini's went into this recipe.
White sauce:
In addition to the bolognese and zucchini, I add a faux béchamel sauce, that I modified from Melissa d'Arabian's faux ricotta cheese in this recipe (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/melissa-darabian/beef-and-bechamel-lasagna-recipe/index.html) In a bowl, I put about half a container of cottage cheese and 4 eggs and mix them up. If I really have time to kill, I will mix the egg whites until they can form stiff peaks, then mix the yolks and cottage cheese together, before folding it into the egg white mixture. This makes for a voluminous layer. I was left with 1/2 a container of cottage cheese, so it is 4 eggs and 1/2 a container of cottage cheese per pan of lasagna.
In a sauté pan, wilt up your bag of spinach, then set aside. Once all of these components are done, you are ready to assemble!
Assembling your lasagna:
Put down a layer of bolognese, and then layer thinly sliced zucchini.
I dot the zucchini with the cooked spinach. Not a full covering or anything, just enough to give some flavor and additional body to the dish.
Over the zucchini and spinach, spoon about 1/2 the white sauce. At this point, you could put a layer of shredded cheese, and I chose to do that, but I have made it with absolutely no shredded cheese, and the flavor is still very good.
Repeat.
This recipe, in these amounts, yielded 3 large pyrex dishes of lasagna, so each lasagna was $10.95 (or $10.943 rounded up). We ate one pan immediately, and I got 8 good servings - like really really big servings - per pan to put into the freezer for lunches for Husband or Thing1.
What has traditionally worked for me has been;
Bolognese
Zucchini & Spinach
White Sauce
Shredded Cheese
Bolognese
Zucchini & Spinach
White Sauce
Shredded Cheese
Bake in a 375 degree oven for 30-45 minutes.
We were quite happy to find that the zucchini softened nicely, and the dish was not too "wet". In the past, when I have cooked the zucchini before assembly, the lasagna winds up being mildly soupy. I will be using raw, thinly sliced zucchini from now on.
To make it full-on Paleo, take the cheeses out. You will need more eggs, and will want to mix the spinach directly into the egg mixture. If you take out the cottage cheese; for volume, you definitely want to whip up your egg whites before mixing with the yolks. Whipping your egg whites also gives more of a ricotta texture to the finished product. I have been out of all cheeses (both cottage and shredded) before, and decided to make this anyway. I served it to a friend that told me that if she had not been in the kitchen chatting with me during all of the prep, she would have sworn there was ricotta in the lasagna.
I hope that you enjoy the recipe!
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