Layered Ground Beef and Zucchini Lasagna Casserole

"Ground turkey or bulk Italian sausage meat may be substituted for ground beef --- I also added in a small chopped green bell pepper into the ground beef mixture"
 
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Ready In:
1hr 35mins
Ingredients:
17
Serves:
6
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ingredients

  • 1182.95 ml water (you might need more water)
  • 3 medium zucchini, sliced
  • 157.80 ml dry breadcrumbs, divided
  • 453.59 g ground beef
  • 1 medium onion, finely chopped
  • 29.58 ml fresh minced garlic (or to taste)
  • 4.92-9.85 ml dried chili pepper flakes (optional or to taste)
  • 4.92 ml dried basil
  • 4.92 ml dried oregano
  • 946.36 ml pasta sauce
  • 709.77 ml ricotta cheese (or use 2 cups ricotta and 1 cup creamed cottage cheese)
  • 1 large egg, lightly beaten (or use 2 small eggs)
  • 2.46 ml garlic powder
  • 709.77 ml mozzarella cheese, divided (can use more)
  • 14.79 ml dried parsley (can use fresh chopped parsley)
  • salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste
  • 118.29 ml freshly grated parmesan cheese
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directions

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (set oven rack to lowest position).
  • Grease a 13 x 9-inch baking dish.
  • Bring about 5 cups water to a boil in a saucepan.
  • Add in the sliced zucchini; simmer for 3 minutes or until just crisp-tender; drain on paper towels or a clean tea towel then cool.
  • In a skillet cook the ground beef with onion, dried chili flakes, basil and oregano until the beef is no longer pink; drain fat.
  • Add in garlic and continue cooking the beef until lightly browned.
  • Add in the pasta sauce; cook for about 10-15 minutes, season with salt and pepper; remove from heat.
  • In a bowl mix together the ricotta with egg/s, garlic powder, 1 cup mozzarella cheese, dried parsley; mix to combine, then season with salt and pepper to taste.
  • Arrange all of the zucchini slices in the bottom of the baking dish (the slices do not have to be in one layer) then sprinkle with about 1/3 cup dry breadcrumbs.
  • Dollop HALF of the ricotta mixture over the breadcrumbs, then cover with HALF of the beef mixture, then sprinkle about 1 cup mozzarella cheese on top.
  • Repeat the layers with remaining 1/3 cup breadcrumbs, ricotta mixture, then meat mixture (reserve the remaining 1 cup mozzarella cheese for the top after baking).
  • Sprinkle 1/2 cup or more Parmesan cheese over the top of the meat mixture.
  • Place the baking dish on a baking sheet to catch any spills.
  • Bake uncovered for about 44-50 minutes or until heated through.
  • Sprinkle remaining 1 cup mozzarella cheese on top and return to oven for another 5-8 minutes.

Questions & Replies

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Reviews

  1. Thumbs up! I substituted the beef with soy meat and made it a veggie dinner.
     
  2. My mom’s neighbor gave me a HUGE zucchini, wasn’t sure what to do with it until I saw this recipe. I cut the zucchini lengthwise (x6) like lasagna noodles and made two separate layers rather than all the zucchini on the bottom. Other than that I followed the recipe exactly. EXCELLENT!
     
  3. Again I have convinced my friends that I am a GREAT cook; thanks to you REAL chefs at "zaar". I also make a layered beef and zucchini casserole, but was in the mood for a change. Found this and treated DH and two DFs to this with a green salad and nice bottle of red wine. I was forced to make a few changes since I didn't want to go out in the 107 degree heat. I used a whole onion, lots of garlic and a small diced green pepper while browning the beef. The garden supplied the zucchini, I didn't have mozzarella but substituted Mexican 3 cheese combo, used fresh oregano, basil, and parsley also from the garden, and substituted cottage for ricotta cheese. I also used fresh mushrooms and sprinkled parmesan cheese over the top layer. It was delicious, but a tad too liquidy. I'll have to figure a way to remedy that next time I make this. Thanks for posting!
     
  4. i made this and my family loved it we love anything creamy.the only thing different i did was used half cottage cheese and half ricotta think it made it cremier.my family said to thank kittencal for another great zuccini recipe as this is one veggie i usually dont cook.Thanks again for posting.
     
  5. This is a real winner and a keeper as well! I make something similar except fry the zucchini after dunking in egg/flour mixture..this is much easier and saves time and calories! The taste is good too and I used my marinara sauce as well. The only other difference I did was I used fresh basil and parsley since the garden is full right now. And gotta have the garlic! Thumbs up! Thanks for sharing another yummy recipe! :)
     
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Tweaks

  1. Another excellent Kittencal recipe! I used just two cups ricotta, and that seemed to work for us, and used my own homemade Italian seasoning blend in place of the basil and oregano. I also added 8 oz. of fresh sliced mushrooms, to the layering mixture. I could see making this again using Italian sausage in place of the ground beef. Either way, it's a winner!
     
  2. Again I have convinced my friends that I am a GREAT cook; thanks to you REAL chefs at "zaar". I also make a layered beef and zucchini casserole, but was in the mood for a change. Found this and treated DH and two DFs to this with a green salad and nice bottle of red wine. I was forced to make a few changes since I didn't want to go out in the 107 degree heat. I used a whole onion, lots of garlic and a small diced green pepper while browning the beef. The garden supplied the zucchini, I didn't have mozzarella but substituted Mexican 3 cheese combo, used fresh oregano, basil, and parsley also from the garden, and substituted cottage for ricotta cheese. I also used fresh mushrooms and sprinkled parmesan cheese over the top layer. It was delicious, but a tad too liquidy. I'll have to figure a way to remedy that next time I make this. Thanks for posting!
     

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