No pasta-sagna

Let me just start by saying that I LOVE pasta. I think there's nothing more delicious than cheese, sauce, and a pile of artfully arranged carbs. If there's gnocchi on the menu, I'm in. Fettucini alfredo? Absolutely. Viva Italia! That being said, we’ve been cutting carbs for the last two years, ever since my awesome experience with nonspecific postpartum gall-bladder attacks.

In Colombia, I had a lasagna that was made with plantains instead of with noodles and it was to die for. However, finding ripe plantains in mid-winter can a bit of a challenge (and they’re still pretty carb-a-licious, so might be cheating). Lots of places are using squash as a noodle replacement nowadays, and so I created a noodle-free lasagna using zucchini and summer squash. Honestly, it’s so full of flavor that I don’t notice a difference! I hope you enjoy it as much as my family does.

This is definitely a make-on-Sunday for the week recipe, for anyone who works during the day.

Ingredients

4 cups of Tomato sauce with mushrooms, or you can use 1 32oz jar of store bought pasta sauce32 oz whole milk ricotta (you can use lowfat if you’d prefer)
1 egg
1 lb whole milk mozzarella cheese (again, you can use part skim if you’d prefer)
½ cup grated parmesan
3 medium zucchini
3 medium yellow squash

Directions

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350º. In a medium bowl, mix the ricotta cheese with 1 beaten egg.

Step 2: Grate the mozzarella cheese, and reserve 3/4 cup.

Step 3: Slice the zucchini and yellow squash lengthwise into strips that are approximately 1/4 inch wide. If you have a mandolin, use it! If not (I don’t) be very careful when slicing your squash. Ouch.

Step 4: You're ready to assemble! In the bottom of a 9*13 glass baking dish, arrange one layer of the squash (you can alternate colors if you'd like). Next, layer 1/2 of the tomato sauce, 1/3 of the ricotta mixture, and 1/2 of the mozarella cheese. Repeat with another layer of squash, another layer of tomato sauce, and another layer of cheese. For the top, put a final layer of squash, the remaining ricotta mixture, and then top with the reserved 3/4 cup mozzarella and the 1/2 cup of grated parmesan. If your baking dish is almost overflowing (like mine was) place it on a cookie sheet in the oven. Bake for about 45 minutes, or until the top is bubbly and starting to turn golden brown. Let cool for 5-10 minutes before cutting.

What I did find is that the vegetables in the lasagna release a lot of liquid, and without the pasta there's nothing to absorb the excess. It's completely acceptable (in my opinion) once your lasagna is done to tilt the pan (carefully) over the cookie sheet or sink and let some of the liquid run off. It may not sound super classy, but it will make cutting and serving the lasagna much, much easier.

Happy low-carb eating!