Oh my, oh my, oh my...these lasagne!! If you ever thought that the only decent lasagna you could ever have would necessarily have pasta in them, well...today's the day you have to change your mind!
This baby is made with zucchini instead of pasta, and it's so freakin' good! Like, for real. So delicious. But with all the cheese, it just had to be amazing, right? We've got a combo of ricotta, parmesan and mozzarella going on (yum, yum, yum). Basically all the goodness of Italy in a casserole!
So, disclosure time: it does not take 5 minutes to make these lasagna. I'm not gonna lie, it's a little bit labor intensive. It's more a lazy Sunday affair than a busy weeknight meal, for sure.
However! Is it worth it?! A 100% YES! Honestly, I would hate for you to spend all the time and effort, and just end up with something decent. Decent doesn't cut it. These lasagna are the bomb, everybody loves them! And did I mention that, because it's veggies, you get to eat a huge portion without breaking the calorie bank? Me like! Enjoy! 🙂
Zucchini Lasagna {Vegetarian +Gluten Free + Grain-free}
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 small sweet onion diced
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 28 oz. - 800 g canned diced tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- ¼ cup chopped fresh basil
- ¾ teaspoon sea salt
- 3 large zucchini cut into ⅛ inch strips (see notes)
- sea salt to taste
- 1 ½ cup part-skim ricotta
- 1 large egg
- ¼ cup grated parmesan
- 16 oz. - 450 g mozzarella sliced
- Freshly ground pepper to taste.
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 375F / 190 C degrees. Grease a 9x13 inch pan, set aside.
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In a large saucepan, add olive oil over medium high heat. Sauté onion and garlic, stirring often, for 3-4 minutes or until onions begin to soften. Add tomatoes, lemon juice and zest, basil, sea salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 30-35 minutes or until mixture begins to thicken.
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In the meantime, lay out sliced zucchini on a cutting board or surface. Salt the zucchini and set aside for 10 minutes until it starts to create moisture. Use a paper towel to dry zucchini and set aside.
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To parbake zucchini: lay out zucchini strips in one even layer in 9x13 dish, bake for 5-7 minutes or until it begins to soften and become tender, then set aside. Repeat in batches until all zucchini is parbaked.
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In a small mixing bowl, whisk together ricotta, parmesan and egg. Mix until well combined.
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Using the same 9x13 dish from before, begin layering lasagna: Spread about ½ cup tomato sauce evenly over the bottom, layer zucchini strips to cover, spread ½ cup ricotta mixture overtop, then layer mozzarella cheese slices. Repeat the same layers ending with mozzarella on the top layer. Sprinkle with sea salt and freshly ground pepper. Cover with foil, then bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil, drain excess liquid in your sink (making sure the lasagne don't tip over!), bake an additional 20 minutes or until browned and bubbling. Set aside to cool for 10-15 minutes before serving.
Recipe Notes
*To cut the zucchini, I highly recommend you use a mandoline slicer like this one. It will save you a LOT of time and effort, and you're guaranteed to have even, thin stripes.
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Sandy
YUM!! I added a couple of anchovie fillets to the tomato sauce and used eggplant along with zucchini. So so yum! The lemon is genius - just enough of a tan and without it could run the risk of being a little ordinary. Thank you for this recipe! 💕💕
Cookie
Made this tonight and it came out beautiful. I cooked for 30 minutes, then took off the cover and cooked for 20 minutes. I didn't have to drain it. Excellent recipe. The only thing I did different was add a little cinnamon to the sauce and a sprinkle of Italian Season.
Marie
Thanks Cookie, so glad you liked this recipe! And thanks for your feedback 🙂
Bryan
I made this recipe as instructed and it was most certainly good. A few things that I'll try in the future is also adding in a bit of the Italian seasoning as one user suggested, along with throwing in some sliced mushrooms (ok, a lot because I can never get enough of them).
Marie
Hi Bryan! Awesome - I am so happy you enjoyed it! Your modifications sound delicious! Thanks for sharing
CJ
I had no lemon on hand when I decided to look up a veggie lasagna recipe for tonight, so I substituted sumac. I also used eggplant, broccoli, and mushrooms, and I added parsley and nutmeg to the ricotta mix--because why not. I always go off-book when I cook 😛 It's freakin' delicious. I am so glad I made enough for 4 meals, haha.
Marie
HI CJ! Sumac is a great alternative to lemon and adds a wonderful freshness and zing! Such a wonderful idea. Love the addition of nutmeg to the cheese mix - I bet it makes it even better and I really enjoy nutmeg in bechamel sauce so this should be amazing. Thanks for sharing.
Lauren
PARMESAN is Not a vegetarian cheese. Besides that,the recipe sounds great!
Marie
Unless you buy a specifically vegetarian one, made without animal rennet I believe?
Shawna
Hi there - do you know if the leftovers will freeze well? Thanks!
Marie
Hi Shawna! To freeze zucchini lasagna you have two options: prepare lasagna as directed then cover with plastic wrap and foil and place in freezer for 3 months. Once ready to bake, thaw out the lasagna overnight in the fridge, then bake as directed. You can also freeze the lasagna after it has been baked.
Diane
This was unreal! I subbed the ricotta for pressed cottage cheese, omitted the lemon and basil (because I didn't have any), added parsley and doubled the parm - it still turned delicious! I can't wait to try it again once I have lemon and basil on hand. Yum, Yum, YUM! I could eat this every day.
Marie
Thanks so much Diane, glad you loved this lasagna! And thanks for sharing your substitutions 🙂
Linda T
Made it your way and it was fantastic. This time I am using crushed tomatoes, garlic and onion powders, oregano, cayenne, red pepper flakes, and herbes de Provence, all about 3/4 teaspoons except for the cayenne 1/8 tsp. and pepper flakes 1./3 tsp.. Came out great, no need to drain.
Marie
Sounds delicious Linda! Thanks for sharing your tweaks! 🙂
Adeline
Wow, this recipe was absolutely perfect! I've tried other zucchini lasagna recipes that just did not measure up, but this really reminds me of my childhood. Unfortunately the stores were out of ricotta, so I used a tofu and yogurt mixture that surprisingly worked great! Thanks for this recipe!
Marie
That makes me super happy! Thanks so much for leaving your feedback! The tofu variation sounds excellent!