This recipe is inspired by lasagna, but in reality it is far different from a traditional lasagna. Traditional lasagna has lasagna noodles, ground meat and ricotta cheese. In my attempt to make a healthier version of lasagna, I replaced the noodles with long slices of zucchini; replaced the meat with mushrooms and spinach; and used fresh mozzarella and parmesan cheese, as I am sensitive to whey products (ricotta is whey cheese).
This is great as a vegetarian meal, or even as a side dish paired with a protein. It is easy and fun to assemble. The bulk of time preparing this meal is the baking time, which can be up to 1 hour.
*Note: to reduce the cooking time you can pre-cook your zucchini slices in a sauce pan for a few minutes, prior to assembling your lasagna.
Ingredients
- 4 zucchini, sliced vertically into 1/2 cm slices
- 1 cup mushrooms, sliced
- 1 jar of marinara sauce
- 2 cups of spinach
- 1 package of fresh mozarella (roughly 340g)
- 1 tablespoon dried rosemary
- Crushed red pepper flakes
- salt and pepper for seasoning
- 1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350°F
- Pour 1/6 of the marinara sauce into the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish
- Layer pan with a single layer of zucchini slices, 1/5 of the mushrooms, 1/5 spinach, 1/5 of the mozzarella, 1/5 of the rosemary, salt, pepper and crushed red pepper flakes
- Repeat the above steps, continuing to layer the tomato sauce, zucchini, mushrooms, mozzarella, and seasoning until there are five layers of zucchini
- Top with the freshly grated parmesan and olive oil
- Bake for 50-60 minutes until zucchini is soft and cheese starts to turn golden
- Set for 30 minutes and then serve