Big Meanies Meat Zucchini Lasagna Food

ZUCCHINI LASAGNA WITH BEEF AND SAUSAGE

Steps:

• Cook and stir ground beef, Italian sausage, onion, and garlic in a large skillet over medium heat until the meat is crumbly and no longer pink, about 10 minutes. Drain grease and stir basil, oregano, brown sugar, red pepper flakes, 1 teaspoon salt, black pepper, tomatoes, and tomato paste into the meat. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer meat sauce for 30 minutes. Stir occasionally.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a 9x13-inch baking dish.
• Mix eggs, ricotta cheese, 1 cup Parmesan cheese, parsley, and 1 teaspoon salt in a bowl until thoroughly combined. Pare several slices of skin lengthwise from zucchini, alternating with strips of remaining skin. Cut zucchini into long strips to resemble lasagna noodles. Discard seedy middle strips.
• Place 1/3 of the zucchini strips into bottom of the prepared baking dish, filling in any gaps with scrap pieces of zucchini. Spread half the ricotta mixture over zucchini; spread 1 cup of mozzarella cheese over ricotta mixture; spread 1/3 of the meat sauce over mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers once more, layering 1/3 of zucchini strips, remaining half of the ricotta mixture, 1 more cup of mozzarella cheese, and 1/3 of the meat sauce. Make a third layer of remaining zucchini strips, remaining meat sauce, and 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top.
• Bake in the preheated oven until lasagna is bubbling and top is browned, about 1 hour. If top is browning too quickly, cover dish with aluminum foil during last 15 minutes of baking time. Spread 1 cup mozzarella cheese on top of the casserole and bake until mozzarella cheese topping is melted, 5 to 10 more minutes. Let casserole stand 10 minutes before serving.

BIG MEANIE'S MEAT & ZUCCHINI LASAGNA

Steps:

• Slice the zucchini lengthwise in 1/8-inch thick strips. Place in bowl and coat with salt.
• Lay zucchini out on paper towels. Let set for 1 hour to pull out moisture.
• In a large saucepan over medium heat, cook onion about 2 minutes, stirring often. Add garlic.
• Add ground beef and cook until browned.
• Stir in tomatoes, basil, oregano, nutmeg and pepper. Cook for 20 minutes, stir occasionally, the tomatoes should break down & the sauce thicken.
• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Blot the zucchini dry with paper towels.
• Use one third of zucchini strips to line 9 x 13-inch baking pan. Top evenly with 1/3 of the sauce, & shredded cheese. Place 1/2 of the remaining zucchini strips on top, then 1/2 the sauce & cheese. Repeat this process one more time: using the layers.
• Bake about 45-50 minutes until the sauce starts to bubble.
• Let cool and serve.

ZUCCHINI LASAGNA WITH MEAT

Steps:

• Salt zucchini slices on a plate and let sit for 10 to 15 minutes while you dice the rest of the ingredients.
• Heat a large skillet or wide pot over high heat. Add oil, onion, and garlic, and sauté until the onion gets a little brown and becomes translucent, about 5 minutes. Add ground beef, potato, and bell pepper. Cook and stir until beef is browned and crumbly, about 5 minutes. Pour in marinara sauce.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• Layer marinara mixture, zucchini slices, and mozzarella cheese in that order in a casserole dish until you run out of ingredients, ending with mozzarella cheese. Cover.
• Bake in the preheated oven, covered, for 30 minutes. Remove cover and continue baking until lasagna is cooked through and bubbly, about 15 minutes more.

ZUCCHINI BEEF LASAGNA

Steps:

• In a large skillet, cook beef and garlic over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Add the tomato sauce, water, tomato paste, bay leaves, parsley and Italian seasoning. Bring to a boil; reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, for 30-40 minutes. , Discard bay leaves. Spread 1/2 cup meat sauce in a 13x9-in. baking dish coated with cooking spray. Arrange 5 noodles over sauce, cutting to fit. Spread with cottage cheese. Cover with 5 noodles, half of the meat sauce and the zucchini. Cover with 5 noodles and sour cream. Top with remaining noodles and meat sauce. , Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 30-35 minutes or until heated through. Let stand for 15 minutes before cutting.

LASAGNA WITH ZUCCHINI AND MEAT SAUCE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F.
• Cook meat, onions and peppers in large skillet sprayed with cooking spray on medium-high heat 4 to 5 min. or until meat is browned and onions are crisp-tender. Add pasta sauce; mix well. Simmer on medium-low heat 20 min. or until thickened, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, mix egg and ricotta in small bowl.
• Spread 1/4 of the meat sauce into bottom of 13x9-inch baking dish sprayed with cooking spray. Layer 3 lasagna noodles, 1/3 of the zucchini slices, 1/3 of the ricotta mixture and 1/4 of the meat sauce. Repeat layers 2 times; top with remaining noodles. Cover with foil.
• Bake 35 to 40 min. Uncover; sprinkle with Parmesan and mozzarella. Bake, uncovered, 10 min. or until cheese is melted.

CHEESY ZUCCHINI LASAGNA

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°.
• Spray rectangular baking dish, 11x7x1-1/2 inches with nonstick cooking spray.
• Reserve 1/2 cup of the mozzarella cheese.
• Mix remaining mozzarella cheese, the zucchini, ricotta cheese and Parmesan cheese.
• Spread 3/4 cup of the spaghetti sauce in prepared baking dish; top with 3 of the noodles.
• Spread half of the cheese mixture over noodles in dish; top with 3/4 cup of the spaghetti sauce.
• Repeat with 3 noodles, remaining cheese mixture and 3/4 cup of the spaghetti sauce.
• Arrange remaining 3 noodles on top.
• Sprinkle boiling water over all.
• Cover with aluminum foil and bake about 1 hour or until noodles are tender and most of the liquid is absorbed.
• Remove from oven; sprinkle with reserved mozzarella.
• Let stand 15 minutes (or longer to get the desired firmness) before cutting.

DECONSTRUCTED ZUCCHINI LASAGNA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large pot, parboil the rigatoni (about 5 minutes in boiling water), drain and set aside.
• In the same large pot, saute the onion and garlic in the olive oil until the onions are transucent. Add the beef and seasonwith the cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper. When the meat is browned, add the tomatos. Mix in the crushed red pepper and basil. Add the pasta, ricotta, zucchini and all but 1/4 cup of parmesan. Mix well.
• Transfer to a 2 3/4 quart baking dish and evenly distribute the reamaning parmesan on top of the casserole. Bake uncovered for 45 minutes. It is important not to over cook this dish, or the zucchini will become soggy.