Zucchini Lasagna - Martha Monday

This week was my choice for Martha Monday's. I wanted something easy and healthy and made good use of the seasonal vegetables. The Martha Stewart recipe I chose was Zucchini Lasagna that was published in her Everyday Food magazine. Unlike so many of her recipes this one was fairly easy! Using the no-boil lasagna noodle really help with the ease of this recipe! I had a box on hand and I wanted to use them, so another good reason to choose it. I just don't make regular lasagna much, because it makes so much and my daughter isn't that big on the red sauce.

It turned out good and we really enjoyed it, but of course I made a few...tiny adjustments. She calls for low fat cheese which is fine. I didn't use all the cream cheese because I used regular cream cheese and I used more mozzarella in the layers. I added more garlic, Herbs de Provence, and some red pepper flakes. It was nice it called for an 8x8 dish, a good size for my family. I did add some eggplant that I needed to use up before it went bad.

Ingredients
Serves 4.

Olive oil, for baking dish
8 ounces reduced-fat cream cheese, room temperature
1 container (15 ounces) part-skim ricotta cheese
Coarse salt and ground pepper
2 medium zucchini, (8 ounces each) halved lengthwise, then sliced thinly crosswise (I used some eggplant too)
1 garlic clove, minced (I used 3)
2 teaspoons dried oregano (I used marjoram, and some herb blend)
6 no-boil lasagna noodles
2 ounces shredded (1/2 cup) part-skim mozzarella cheese (I used more and added to the layers)


Directions
1.Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Lightly oil an 8-inch square baking dish; set aside.
2.In a medium bowl, stir together cream cheese and ricotta; season with salt and pepper. In another medium bowl, combine zucchini, garlic, and oregano; season with salt and pepper, and toss to combine.
3.Spread 1/3 zucchini mixture in prepared baking dish; top with two lasagna noodles, then 1/3 ricotta mixture. Repeat twice with remaining zucchini mixture, noodles, and ricotta mixture, finishing with the ricotta mixture. Sprinkle with mozzarella.
4.Cover baking dish with aluminum foil; bake until bubbly and noodles are tender, 30 to 35 minutes. Remove foil; bake until golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes more. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.
From Everyday Food, September 2006

It is nice and creamy, and I probably should of used all the cream cheese!

It filled the dish above the top, so I had some food pick I put in the center so the cheese would stick to the foil.

The foil comes off and a final toasting in the oven. I knew it would settle a little when it cooked.

I liked the texture of the zucchini, I sliced it pretty thin, but it didn't come out mushy at all. I also like the different texture that the eggplant gave it. There was less eggplant than zucchini, and that worked out nice. It was so good and creamy. I was worried that there wouldn't be enough sauce, but there was just enough sauce.

The nice thing about this recipe it works well with any changes that you want to give it, or not. I was thinking maybe some toasted walnuts to give a little crunch, but then regular lasagna doesn't crunch....just a thought!
If you would like to see how others did on this recipe check out Brette's blog Martha and Me for a list of those that like to participate in...

Please feel free to join us...you can cook along with us, or do a craft! It's all in fun! You can join the fun check here at Martha and Me !