Similar to an easy zucchini lasagna, this layered casserole is a great summer time meal using fresh zucchini
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Ingredients
- 4 cup water
- 6 cups sliced zuccini about 3 medium
- 1 pound ground beef I used ground turkey
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 cups low-fat spaghetti sauce I used marinara
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon dried basil or more to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano or more to taste
- 2 cups cottage cheese or more (needs more than 1 cup if halving)
- 1 tablespoon dried parsley I used Italian seasoning instead
- 2 large eggs lightly beaten
- Cooking Spray
- 1/2 cup dry breadcrumbs or more (I don't always measure); divided
- 1 3/4 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese divided
Ingredients
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Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Bring the water to a boil in a large saucepan. Add zucchini; cook 3 minutes or until crisp-tender. Drain and cool.
- Place the beef and garlic in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Cook until browned, stirring to crumble. Stir in the spaghetti sauce, salt, basil, and oregano; cook for 1 minute. Remove from heat.
- Combine the cottage cheese, parsley, and eggs in a medium bowl.
- Arrange zucchini slices in a shallow 3-quart casserole coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle the zucchini with half of the breadcrumbs. Spread half of the cottage cheese mixture over breadcrumbs; cover with half of the meat mixture and 1 cup mozzarella. Repeat the layers with the remaining breadcrumbs, cottage cheese mixture, and meat mixture; reserve the remaining mozzarella.
- Bake at 350 or 40 minutes.
- Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella, and bake an additional 5 minutes or until cheese melts.
Recipe Notes
Stacy's Notes:
- I always cut this in half for the two of us and use a glass 8x8 Pyrex square casserole dish.
- Next time, I would probably cut the zucchini thicker (coins), maybe try long sheets, or cook them less (though it was fine, just seemed a bit overcooked at 3 minutes).
- I used ground turkey and browned my meat first, then added the jarred minced garlic in the last 30 seconds or so (so the garlic doesn't burn, like it is prone to do if you add at the beginning).
- I used dried Italian seasoning rather than the parsley and probably used a wee bit more spices.
- I didn't have quite 1 cup of cottage cheese, and it needed at least the full cup for the cheese layer.
- I also used preshredded mozzarella, but it probably would have been even better with the block shredded fresh 🙂
- Enjoy!
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