This is my no fail zucchini casserole recipe reminiscent of lasagna. It does not get wet and soggy! I use a high-quality canned tomato sauce here to speed up prep. Look for one that has “basil” in the label for a great flavor!
Prep Time25 minutesmins
Cook Time25 minutesmins
Resting Time10 minutesmins
Total Time1 hourhr
Course: dinner
Cuisine: American
Servings: 6
Calories: 709kcal
Author: Mirlandra
Ingredients
Meat Sauce
1Tbsp.Butter
8ozcremini mushroomssliced
1/8tsp.salt
16ozItalian Pork Sausage
24ozjar pasta sauceI’m using Bertolli Tomato Basil sauce
Zucchini Lasagna
4-5zucchinisabout the length of a banana
Pan spray
Salt
Fresh ground black pepper
15ozricotta 15 or 16 oz ricotta or cottage cheese is fine
1lbsmozzarella
1tbspparsley for garnishoptional
Instructions
To Make the Sauce:
Preheat the oven to 375 F and set out a 9"x 9" baking dish with tall sides.
On a back burner add butter and sliced mushrooms to a medium sized frying pan. Cook over medium-high heat stirring occasionally for 1 minute. Add 1/8 tsp. of salt. (Pepper lovers grind in some fresh pepper here too – a few grinds or a lot!)
Crumble in the sausage and continue to cook, stirring as needed until the sausage is browned. Drain fat if you want (I DON’T drain the fat).
Stir in the pasta sauce and leave the pan to simmer while you cook the zucchini.
Prepare zucchini:
Wash zucchini and use a knife or mandolin to slice the zucchini into 1/8” slices (the long way so they look kind of like lasagna noodles).
Heat a non-stick skillet to medium-high heat. Spray with pan spray. Use a kitchen tongs to lay one layer of zucchini in the pan. Sprinkle on some salt and pepper. Cook until golden brown (1-2 minuteand then flip. Salt and pepper the cooked side and cook until side #2 is browned. The slice won’t be cooked through – it will finish cooking in the lasagna. Use tongs to set cooked slices on a plate. Repeat until all slices are cooked. (If I’m in a hurry I use two frying pans at the same time so I can cook more pieces at once.)
Assemble lasagna:
You can assemble your lasagna in any way you want. These are the layers I use:
Zucchini, one layer of slices (I use 4-6 slices for each of these layers)
½ the meat sauce
½ the mozzarella
Zucchini, one layer of slices
Ricotta or Cottage Cheese – all of it (pepper lovers grind in some more here)
Rest of the meat sauce
Zucchini, one layer of slices
Rest of the mozzarella
Bake at 375 F for 20-25 minutes until hot through and the cheese is melted and bubbly. (160 F on an digital instant read thermometer is hot through.)
Allow the lasagna to sit and settle for about 10 to 15 minutes before slicing into it and serving. Garnish with a sprinkle of minced fresh parsley if desired.
Notes
Preventing Drips: Baking pans come in different heights. The first time you cook this be prepared for a few drips if your pan is very full! I cook a pan of Italian Herb Meatballs on the bottom rack while I make the lasagna and serve those with. That catches any little drips! You can also use a piece of tin foil on a cookie sheet or make sure your pan is tall enough.Note on Cheese: Using cottage cheese makes a wetter lasagna than ricotta. My husband likes ricotta better but if you have different family tastes you can serve either or both of these cheeses on the side! I have made the lasagna with no ricotta or cottage cheese and then put a spoon of cold cottage cheese on the hot casserole.