Mushroom, Kale, and Zucchini Lasagna

listening to: alt-j

drinking: topo chico mineral water (so refreshing on this hot day!)

Hello! I apologize for my lack of blog posts.  I have recently accepted a promotion at work and I am now living in Austin, TX.  Fort Wayne to Austin was a big move!  I am sure going forward, my recipes may change from the midwestern feel to the south.... I am hoping to share some tex mex recipes soon!  The great thing about living in Texas is I now have an excuse to eat tacos for every meal :)

I have had this recipe ready to blog for quite some time now but did not get it typed up and posted! I was craving some lasagna one day and wanted to load it up with some veggies to bring as much flavor.  I also have been interested in making my own tomato sauce, so this was a perfect way to try out both.  I made this lasagna using zucchini thinly sliced instead of noodles, and whipped up a tomato sauce to go along with it. I won't say I have nailed down a perfect red sauce yet, but that can be for a whole separate post :)  I will include the tomato sauce I used here as well. The filling is ricotta cheese with kale and mushrooms and is SO delicious.

yum

The sauce simmering made my apartment smell wonderful!

hello friends

First, I cooked down the kale and mushrooms with some garlic.

creamy goodness

Next, I combined an egg, parmesan cheese, and ricotta cheese in a bowl, then added the kale mushroom mixture.

The tricky part was thinly slicing the zucchini to be as even as possible.












Next, I spread some sauce on the bottom of the baking dish, then layered zucchini, the kale mixture, sauce, cheese, and repeated.

layered goodness

oh yeaaaah

The end result was INSANE! So delicious!! I was able to enjoy this as leftovers through my week.

has there ever been such a beautiful sight?

Basil Red Sauce
Time: 20 min prep, 1 hr simmer
Makes: 3 cups

Ingredients:
5 tomatoes, whole
1 small yellow onion, sliced
3 cloves garlic
2 tbps basil, chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp white sugar
1 tsp oregano
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Blanch tomatoes, peel, then puree (I used my hand blender)
2. Sautee onion in olive oil for ~5 minutes
3. Add garlic, cook another ~2 minutes
4. Add the tomatoes and the rest of the ingredients and stir over medium heat
5. Reduce heat, cover, and let simmer for 1 hour, stirring occassionally

Mushroom, Kale, and Zucchini Lasagna
time: 45 min prep, 40 min bake
makes: 6 servings

Ingredients:
2 large zucchinis, sliced thinly length wise
3 c kale, chopped fine
8oz mushrooms, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
8oz ricotta cheese
1/2 c fresh grated parmesan cheese
1 egg
2 c red tomato sauce
1 c fresh mozzarella cheese, grated or sliced
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350F
2. Cover bottom of baking dish with sauce
3. Sautee garlic in oil for about 1 minute, add kale and cook another 5 minutes
4. Add mushrooms and cook another 5 minutes
5. Combine egg, parmesan cheese, and ricotta cheese in a bowl
6. Add cooked kale mixture and stir with spatula
7. Layer zucchini, then kale mixture, then sauce and repeat
8. Cover top with mozzarella cheese and bake at 350F for ~40 minutes or until the top is slightly brown and bubbly

Will you guys try this veggie lasagna? Let me know if you have made something similar before, I know a lot of people use eggplant, but I am more of a zucchini fan!

Happy Cooking,
Nat


ps -- pin this below: