Many of my Sundays with family were marked by a big pan of lasagna.
In the recent years —when is not so easy to lose weight as when I had 15 years old—, I’ve started a “Healthy path”.
Replacing ingredients that are high in calories is one of the favorite strategies to keep down the calories counts in a recipe.
For this lasagna, instead of using pasta for the layers of the lasagna I will be using sliced zucchini.
It may seem like an insignificant change, but consider this fact: 100 gr of pasta are 160 calories while 100gr of zucchini is only 16 calories. Also, the zucchini brings more vitamin and nutrients than regular pasta.
Now let’s jump into this recipe that will make you feel less guilty and that maintains the good feeling of a yummy lasagna. This recipe serve up to 4 people.
Zucchini Beef Lasagna
Ingredients
- 2 small Zucchinis
- 150 gr of grated mozzarella
- 50 gr of parmesan
For the Beef:
- 400 gr of ground beef
- 2 small tomatoes chopped
- 100 ml tomato sauce
- Oregano
- Salt
- Black Pepper
- Garlic Powder
- Olive oil
- ½ tsp of sugar
- ½ onion
For the Bechamel:
- 500 ml milk
- 50 gr butter
- ½ onion
- Black pepper
- Nutmeg
Instructions
The Beef:
- Use a big pan over medium heat. Add a little bit of olive oil and when the oil is hot put the ground meat. Season with salt, pepper, oregano and garlic powder. In the center of the pan put the onion finely chopped.
- Add the tomatoes chopped. I like my ground beef sauce with chunks of tomato, but this is optional.
- Add the tomato sauce and the sugar. The sugar help to balance the acidity of the tomato. Wait until the sauce is thick and remove from the stove.
The Bechamel:
- In a sauce pot over low heat add the butter and wait until it melts. Add the onion sliced finely and stir until it’s soft.
- Incorporate the milk, the nutmeg and the pepper. Raise the temperature of the stove to medium heat. In this phase it is important to stir constantly to avoid burned milk at the bottom of the pan.
- Wait until the bechamel is thick. If you are having problems with the consistency of the bechamel, you can use ½ teaspoon of flour. When the bechamel is thick enough, remove immediately from the stove .
Building the lasagna:
- Preheat the oven to 180º
- In a lasagna pan add ¼ of the bechamel sauce.
- Over that, place a layer of zucchini sliced finely.
- On top put some beef sauce and cover with parmesan.
- Add ¼ of bechamel and repeat steps 3 and 4.
- Finish the last layer with the finest zucchini and cover with 2/4 of the bechamel sauce. Make sure that it cover the entire surface.
- Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and take the lasagna to the oven for 30 minutes (heat up and down) and then 10 minutes on gratinate mode.
I’m Maria and I love cooking—and mostly EATING—food from all around the world. I’ve been sharing my abuela’s secret Latin-American recipes for the last 7 years with the world on this blog. I’ve been a full-time food blogger for many years and I’m always trying new delicious meals that don’t require a culinary degree or a Michelin-star chef. I also love traveling, cats, and knitting.