I love a dish that combines a bunch of different veggies and this dish hits the spot. I spotted this recipe by Teresa Cutter (The Healthy Chef) in an edition of Fitness First magazine that is distributed in Australia for members. In case you missed it, I am obsessed with Teresa’s recipes from both her website, and her 80/20 diet book. Teresa’s recipe uses just asparagus but I added a layer of red peppers. Next time I think I will throw in some corn kernels but the possibilities are endless! You can check out Teresa’s web site here.
I can’t even remember the last time I had a lasagne made with pasta sheets. Besides being a carb dodger, I have never found anywhere that does a good veggie lasagne and by good I mean uses lots of veggies rather than just the standard spinach and cheese. This is such a good idea to use thinly sliced zucchini/courgettes as the ‘pasta’. I think this will become a regular dish for us as it’s very similar to a veggie bake.
Time it takes: 1 hour
Ingredients for 2 servings:
- 125g fine asparagus, trimmed
- 1 red pepper/capsicum, sliced into batons
- 2 medium sized zucchini/courgettes
- fresh basil leaves, some sliced for the napolitana sauce
- black pepper
- 200g cottage cheese or low fat ricotta
- 2 spring onion, sliced
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 2 egg whites
- 20g grated Parmesan
- 1/2 onion, diced
- 400g tin chopped tomatoes
Method:
- Boil a large pot of water and blanch the asparagus and peppers for 1 minute then drain well.
- Slice the zucchini thinly on a mandolin lengthways (this is your pasta replacement.)
- Scoop the cottage cheese or ricotta into a blender or food processor then add the egg whites and nutmeg. Blend until smooth and creamy.
- Fold in the spring onion by hand.
- Layer ingredients into a loaf pan in the following order so you end up with 3 layers of zucchini: zucchini – black pepper – cheese mix – asparagus – basil – zucchini – black pepper – cheese mix – red peppers – basil – zucchini – ricotta mix – grated parmesan cheese.
- Bake in a moderate 180 C oven for about 45 mins – 1 hour until golden then serve with a simple napolitana sauce.
- To make the napolitana sauce quickly sauté the onion until golden then add the chopped tomatoes, and a little sliced basil. Simmer for 2 – 3 minutes and season with a little salt and pepper.
NB: for a dairy free version substitute the cottage cheese with good quality silken tofu.
I really love this recipe! I don’t like pasta dishes as they are usually quite ‘heavy’, and being the carb-dodger and ‘no red meat’ fan that I am, I don’t usually even look twice at them. This works out like a lovely, satisfying vegetable bake which is perfect for a Sunday afternoon lunch when it’s cold outside. Comfort food without the calories and fat! Enjoy!
