No Noodle Zucchini Lasagna

By seo53

Ingredients

• 2 large zucchini
• 1 tbls. salt
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 1/2 teas. ground black pepper
• 1 small green bell pepper diced
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 cup tomato paste
• 1 (16 oz) can tomato sauce
• 1/4 cup red wine
• 2 tbls. chopped fresh basil
• 1 tbls. chopped fresh oregano
• hot water as needed
• 1 egg
• 1 (15 oz) container low-fat ricotta cheese
• 2 tbls. chopped fresh parsley
• 1 (16 oz) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
• 1 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced
• 8 oz shredded mozzarella cheese
• 8 oz grated Parmesan cheese

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat oven to 325. Grease a deep 9x13 inch baking pan.

Slice zucchini lengthwise into very thin slices. Sprinkle slices lightly with salt; set aside to drain in a colander.

To prepare the meat sauce, cook and stir ground beef and black pepper in a large skillet over medium high heat for 5 minutes. Add in green pepper and onion; cook and stir until meat is no longer pink. Stir in tomato paste, tomato sauce, wine, basil, and oregano, adding a small amount of hot water if sauce is too thick. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer sauce for 20 minutes, stirring frequently.

Meanwhile, stir egg, ricotta, and parsley together in a bowl until well combined.

to assemble lasagna, spread 1/2 of the meat sauce into the bottom of prepared pan. Then layer 1/2 the zucchini slices, 1/2 the ricotta mixture, all the spinach, followed by all the mushrooms, then 1/2 the mozzarella cheese. Repeat by layering the remaining meat sauce, zucchini slices, ricotta mixture, and mozzarella. Spread Parmesan cheese evenly over the top, cover with foil.

Bake for 45 minutes. Remove foil, raise oven temperature to 350 and bake an additional 15 minutes. Let stand for 5 additional minutes before serving.