Zucchini Lasagna

I always thought that making Lasagna was a long, tedious process, but I made this Zucchini Lasagna last week and it was quite easy. I've been trying to eat more whole wheat products and I went to the Bio store to pick up some pasta and when I saw the Lasagna sheets, I just knew I had to get them!

Ingredients: Whole wheat (ready to bake) Lasagna sheets, Gouda Cheese (100 g), Mozzarella (100 g), one medium Zucchini, and  Bolognese sauce.  I put salt and pepper in the photo because 99% of  recipes calls for it but I actually didn't end up using it.

Prepare your ingredients for assembly. Wash and slice the Zucchini into 1/4 inch slices. Slice the Mozzarella as thinly as you can. Shred the Gouda (Freshly grated cheese please!) Now all you have to do is layer. simple stuff here.

 Spread a thin layer of the meat sauce on the bottom of a 11 x 7 in oven proof casserole dish

. I used the pionner woman's recipe, the homemade sauce really makes a difference and if you have time, definitly try to make a batch. I made a huge pot, it freezes great too, so I did this ahead of time and just pulled a container out of the fridge when I was ready to assemble. 

Second layer: Zucchini! just line them up, if some of them over lap a little, don't worry, they are so thinly sliced. I added Zucchini to the recipe to try to add more veggies to the dish and make it healthier. 

Third layer: Cheese! I put on the Mozzarella first, then sprinkled on the Gouda onto the spaces in between.

Fourth layer: Pastas! If the sheets don't fit properly, just break the into the appropriate size. That's what I did with the sheet on the right.

Repeat until you reach the top. Stopping at the Cheese layer. I managed to get in 3 layers. Don't worry about filling it all the way to the brim, the casserole will shrink down during the cooking process.

Bake at 200°c (400°f)  for 35 minutes or until the top is golden and bubbly! 

Slice into squares and enjoy! It held together very well, I didn't even need a spatula.

All in all, I was really happy with how this recipe turned out, especially since it was my first time making Lasagna. I really like the Zucchini in the recipe, it went very well with the meat sauce. If you don't like it, of course you can leave it out or substitute with something else. I think eggplant slices would be delicious as well, sort of like a version of eggplant Parmesan. 

I have to say, however, this Lasagna was on the cheesy side. I used Gouda because that's what I had in the fridge. I love Gouda but it made the dish heavier than I would have like so next time I will probably use a mixture of ricotta and mozzarella, which is more traditional, and Parmesan on the top layer.

- jo