I love the taste of lasagna, however the heavy amount of “starchy carbs” and greasy cheese often leaves me with a ‘weighed down/sluggish’ feeling. I created this veggie-filled variation that has all the wonderful textures and flavors of traditional lasagna, without the ‘heavy’ after-effects!
I started by cutting my zucchini for the ‘noodles’…and like everything else I cook/bake, I just made it up as I went along with what I had in the house!
The estimated total time to make this recipe is 30 - 45 Minutes.
For the noodle layer: Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray, arrange zucchini slices and season with salt and pepper. Bake zucchini slices for 5 minutes on each side, then remove from oven. Set zucchini slices aside and lower oven temperature to 375 degrees.
For the meat sauce layer: In a large non-stick skillet, cook meat until it’s browned. To the skillet, add the veggies, seasonings, and the entire jar of spaghetti sauce. Simmer for about 10 minutes, (or until veggies are de-thawed/begin to soften), stirring occasionally.
For the cheesy layer: Mix the cottage cheese and parmesan cheese together, ( this can be done right in the cottage cheese container!)
Put it all together: Spray a 9×13 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. Begin by spreading 1/3 of the meat sauce in the bottom of the pan.
Follow meat sauce with a layer of zucchini slices, followed by a layer of cottage cheese. Repeat the layers until casserole dish is full.
Finish it off: Sprinkle the mozzarella evenly over the top. Cover with foil and bake at 375 degrees for 1 hour.
Remove foil and bake or broil another 5-10 minutes until cheese is browned. Remove from oven and let rest for about 10 minutes before slicing, and serve warm!
| For the Noodles: | |
| 6 large | Zucchini, cut lengthwise into 1/8 inch strips1 |
| For the Meat Sauce: | |
| 1.25 lb | Lean ground turkey meat |
| 1 large | Onion, diced |
| 2 cups | Fresh or frozen broccoli |
| 2 cups | Fresh or frozen cauliflower |
| 2 cups | Fresh or frozen chopped spinach |
| 1 | 25oz jar of spaghetti sauce |
| 1 tbs | Garlic powder or 1 clove garlic, minced |
| Pinch | Salt and pepper, or to taste |
| Optional | Seasoning: 2 tbs of Italian Seasoning |
| For the Cheese Layer: | |
| 1 | 16oz container light cottage cheese or light ricotta cheese |
| 1/2 cup | Grated parmesan cheese |
| 3/4 cup | Shredded mozzarella cheese |
| Note: | If you don’t want to use zucchini for the ‘noodles’, you could also use a large eggplant, cut lengthwise into 1/8 inch strips, or 1 box no-boil lasagna noodles! |
1 (should resemble thick lasagna type “noodles”)
You could also leave out the turkey and make to make a vegetarian version! | 8 | Servings (slices) |
| 285 | Calories Per Serving |
| 7 | WWP+* |
*Weight Watchers Points per serving
14 Comments
Lindsay Walker said:
I was wondering, do you think it’d work to just cut this recipe in half? It’s only my husband and me, so it may be a lot. I guess leftovers are always good too though! :)
Dashing Dish said:
Sure! It should work in a 9×9 pan
Alice Van Doran said:
Hi! Can’t wait to try this. I have a question, if I use eggplant, do I bake it just like the zucchini. If you’ve both, which do you prefer.
Thanks so much.
Alice
Austin, Texas
Dashing Dish said:
hi alice, yes you would treat it just like the zucchini! :) i prefer zucchini!
Maridon said:
Do you do anything to “dehydrate” the zucchini? I have made similar dish and the zucc is so full of water, the final entree has been really runny.. Any tips??
Dashing Dish said:
hi maridon, simply follow the directions…it can be a tad bit watery, but it turns out delicious! :)
Maridon said:
okay great, thanks!
mchlldnswll said:
LOVED THIS!! We had it tonight and I made my no veggies guys try it without telling them the ingredients! They loved it! They couldn’t believe they’d just eaten 4 taboo veggies LOL! Thank You!
Jackie said:
Do you have the full nutritional information for this recipe? It’s amazing!
Meghan said:
Katie,
I made this amazing dish tonight. I’m Gluten free and who would have thought lasagna without noodles would taste so good!
Thank you so much!
Meghan
Joy Hardin said:
This dish is wonderful!! I love it! I am going to feature this on my cooking blog. Thanks Dashing Dish!
Dashing Dish said:
thanks joy! :) just please put a link back to dashing dish! thanks! :)
Joy Hardin said:
Absolutely!!! I love promoting other’s recipes and blogs.
Nancy Stern said:
If you salt the zucchini and let it drain the dry well before the oven you will eliminate most of the water…..same as you would with eggplant….to eliminate the bitterness …then you could layer both in the lasagna. Enjoy!