As a disclaimer, future posts will be better presented, more organized and with prettier pictures but I was just excited about actually getting this started.
Today I'm starting with a dinner. And since Italian is my favorite type of food, we are going with lasagna. What you may not know however, is that my husband has a sensitivity to gluten. Now, we could have a whole different conversation about the gluten-free (GF) diet fad but we have found it to be very beneficial to him and his stomach (and hence to me and my bathroom :P) to avoid it as much as possible. So without going further into that, here is a GF Zucchini Lasagna recipe courtesy of Mique at 30 Handmade Days. To be honest, I didn't even miss the noodles. And this is guaranteed to get comments about how good it smells when people walk in.
30 Handmade Days' very professional-looking picture
My very UN-professional-looking phone picture of the finished product. I promise it'll get better.
Now, if you are anything like me, the first time I thought about making lasagna, I just didn't because lasagna is one of those dishes that seems complicated and involved. I promise this will change your mind. There are five very basic steps to this recipe.
1) gather ingredients 2) chop veggies 3) make sauce 4) layer 5) bake. Easy right?
I am rewriting the recipe here rather than just link you to 30 Handmade Days because I have altered the recipe slightly. The first difference is that I chose to use ground turkey rather than beef simply for the health factor. The second is that her recipe calls for 1 lb of meat but if you haven't noticed lately, when you buy ground meat you buy 1.2 lbs in a package. Maybe you are one of those people who would take the time to separate out that .2 lb but I am most certainly not. Therefore, this required a few other alterations to have a good sauce to meat ratio. You are also welcome to alter the amount of green pepper and onion you use.
STEP 1: Gather ingredients and heat oven to 325
1 package ground turkey (1.2 lbs)
1 green pepper, chopped
1/4 large onion, chopped
1 tsp. Italian seasoning (optional)
3 cloves minced garlic (if you use a jar like me, about a Tbsp or so will do)
24 oz. jar of marinara sauce
15 oz. can of tomato sauce (optional)
2-3 zucchini, depending on size
1 box mushrooms
1 bag (2 cups) mozzarella cheese
9x13 pan
STEP 2: Chop veggies
- Chop up your green pepper and onion into small pieces.
- Slice zucchini lengthwise so that you have pieces like lasagna noodles.
I found that a cheese slicer worked the best for this. I tried with a knife. Let me save you the trouble and say unless you want very uneven slices and a possible cut thumb, don't do it!
STEP 3: Make sauce
- Brown the meat in a large saucepan.
- Add your garlic, green pepper and onion to the pan, saute for about 5 minutes.
- Add your can of marinara sauce and 3/4 of the can of tomato sauce if you need more sauce.
- Add Italian seasoning.
- Bring to a light boil, then just take it off the burner.
STEP 4: Layer
- Spread a light layer of sauce on the bottom of the pan.
- Layer zucchini slices, mushrooms and cheese.
- Repeat these steps until you run out of either a layer ingredient or space in your dish. Make sure your top layer is cheese of course.
STEP 5: BAKE
- Cover the dish in tin foil and bake for 15 minutes.
- Take off the foil and bake for another 15.
Don't forget the foil or your cheese will burn. And let's be honest, no one but my husband likes burnt cheese.
Oh and don't forget step 6: ENJOY!
PLEASE feel free to give me feedback in the comments, good or constructive (notice I didn't say bad!). If you make it, let me know how it went!
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