Serves 8. This makes a great veggie entree. The only challenge is the amount of water those puppies put out. But, I've combined a few recipes here to minimize what you may have experienced in the past. Just add the crumble of Margot's Morsels broken up or Crazy Crumbs for the added finish of crunch!
-
5 medium zucchinis(2 lb. total weight)
-
Olive oil, spray is fine
-
1-2 pounds of mild Italian sausage or ground beef
-
If using beef, put a tablespoon of olive oil in a sauté pan
-
Add 3 cloves of garlic, chopped finely
-
3/4 teaspoons kosher salt
-
½ teaspoon black pepper
-
Cook through and drain of rendered fat
-
24 ounce can/bottle of your favorite Marinara Sauce
-
15 ounce container of your favorite ricotta cheese
-
1 cup of shredded parmesan regianno
-
1-1/2 cups mozzarella
-
2 eggs
-
handful of fresh parsley and basil, chopped
-
Margot's Morsels Crazy Crumbs, Parmesan or, Margot's Morsels Primo Parmesan, broken to the desired size -- I like them fairly fine, added after baking.
Zucchini is very watery, so do go through the extra step of grilling the slices before assembling the dish. Slice the zucchini thin and sprinkle with kosher salt and let sit in a baking dish to draw out moisture (about 1/2 hour). Pat dry, add a little pepper or onion powder and put on the hot grill for 2-3 minutes on each side. This step can also be duplicated in your oven broiler at 500 degrees Fahrenheit, lay out your slices on parchment covered rimmed baking sheet.
Cook beef as instructed in the ingredients above or, cook up the Italian sausage breaking it up...it should have plenty of spice, but if you like it spicer, choose a hotter sausage. Mix this with all but 1/3 cup of the marinara sauce and set aside.
Mix the Ricotta cheese eggs and most of the fresh basil/parsley mixture and set aside. Reserve just a little of the basil/parsley for dressing the final dish.
Assemble the dish by oiling a 9"x13" baking dish and layering the 1/3 cup of marinara in the bottom of the dish. Top the marinara sauce with a layer of zucchini, then a third of the ricotta mixture, a third of the meat mixture, and a third of the shredded mozzarella cheese. Repeat, arranging the zucchini slices in the opposite direction: zucchini, ⅓ ricotta, ⅓ meat mixture, ⅓ mozzarella.
Top layer should be Mozzarella and bake in a 350 degree oven for 30-40 minutes until bubbly. Let broil for 5 minutes.
Once out of the oven I usually mix my morsel crumbs with the reserved parsley basil mixture and sprinkle on top as a garnish.