Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Zucchini & Turkey Lasagna

I was looking to do something different than just sautéing zucchini as a side dish this week & was inspired by the flavors in Ben's Zucchini Bruschetta's. I thought why not take those flavors & turn them into baked dish, which turned into a lasagna using the zucchini as the noodles.
Zucchini & Turkey Lasagna
This turned out much better than I expected. The zucchini held up well as the "noodles" & because I didn't cook them before using they retained a little bit of a crunch. Usually, we use Italian sausage in lasagna but I had some ground turkey in the freezer which turned out to be a good choice, its mild flavor was a good compliment to the zucchini.

For the sauce I used a can of Muir Glen Tomato Sauce (Muir Glen makes the best organic tomato products!) which I doctored with a little fresh oregano & basil from the garden. Then I added some cream to give the sauce a some richness. Use any sauce you like here but I highly recommend a creamy tomato sauce.

I'm almost embarrassed to say we ate the whole lasagna in one sitting last night (to be fair it was only 5" x 6). Matt says he would definitely have it again & also thinks leaving out the noodles allows us to have more garlic bread on the side.

Zucchini & Turkey Pasta


1/2 lb ground turkey
1/4 t crushed red pepper flakes (more or less to taste)
salt
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 large zucchini
15-oz tomato sauce (about 2 cups)
3/4 c grated mozzarella
freshly grated Parmesan

Preheat oven to 350 F.

In a skillet cook the turkey, red pepper flakes, salt to taste, onion & garlic until the turkey is cooked through & the onions are translucent.

Using a peeler or a mandolin, slice the zucchini lengthwise into thin ribbons. We found a Y peeler to be perfect for this.
zucchini slivers
Spoon just enough tomato sauce onto the bottom of a 5" x 6" baking dish to coat it. Lay 1/3 of the zucchini slices on top of the sauce overlapping as you go.
Zucchini & Turkey Lasagna
Spoon 1/2 of the turkey mixture on top of the zucchini. Then top with 1/3 of the remaining tomato sauce & sprinkle with 1/4 c of mozzarella. Add another layer of zucchini slices, using 1/2 of what you have left) then the rest of the meat, 1/2 the remaining sauce & 1/4 c mozzarella. Use the last of the zucchini slices to make one more layer. Top with the remaining tomato sauce & mozzarella & then some grated Parmesan.
Zucchini & Turkey Lasagna
Bake for 45 - 60 minutes until the cheese is melted & brown & the sauce is bubbly. Allow to sit for about 15 minutes before slicing & serving.
Zucchini & Turkey Lasagna
Serve 2 hungry people or 4 not so hungry.
(double this recipe to make a full-sized lasagna)

12 comments:

Beth (jamandcream) said...

Anything to have more garlic bread!!. Love the idea of using courgettes as the lasagne sheets.

Leslie said...

Brillant idea! And without the noodles I wouldnt feel guilty eating it!

Jersey Girl Cooks said...

This looks great and I could eat the whole pan myself!

grace said...

what a stroke of genius! a true veggie lasagna, finally. :) my least favorite part of a lasagna is those thick slippery noodles, so i'm thrilled with this. nice job! :)

kat said...

Glad you all liked this idea.

Ben - Your cracking me up. Can't wait to see what you make maybe it'll inspire me on to something else.

My Sweet & Saucy said...

What a great way to lighten up lasagna! I love it!

Anonymous said...

this is such a creative alternative to traditional lasagna - love it! the photo's making me hungry.

test it comm said...

That looks tasty!

PG said...

I agree with the other - great idea! Zucchini instead of pasta is a great way to cut down on carbs. Starred!

Ami said...

This looks absolutely delicious. I'm always looking for ways to use up that zucchini and cut down on calories without losing taste. I think this just might do it. :)

Anonymous said...

I made this tonight. I used a cheese slicer that's shaped similar to the Y peeler. I made a double batch and have a ton of leftovers. With the turkey and zucchini, it's really filling. I made garlic bread from Simply Recipes. I made an awesome dinner tonight. This is the second recipe that I've made from the blog. Thanks for all of the cooking inspiration and recipes!

Jen said...

I'm going to make this tonight but our farmers market didn't have any zuchini so I got summer squash. Hopefully it turns out well...

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