Coming straight from the Royal Table Test Kitchen tonight, I bring you what I thought was a fantastic dinner (and the King agreed). It was a low rent version of a Rachael Ray recipe that I saw on her talk show last week, called Zucchini-sagna. Go here for the original recipe, which I am sure is much better. However, I used a few different things and cut out an ingredient or two to reduce the cost and still had a fabulous result.
Pre-heat your oven to 375.
Ingredients:
2 T Extra Virgin Olive Oil
3-4 Medium sized Zucchini (I got 3 for 1.79 @ Aldi)
Garlic Salt
1 Jar of Spaghetti Sauce (I am crushing on Ragu Light No Sugar Added Tomato Basil, more to follow)
2 packets of Splenda (optional)
Italian Spices
1 container of Lowfat Skim Ricotta Cheese (I bought the Market Pantry kind from Target)
1 egg yolk
1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese (the shake it in the can kind, not the fancy stuff)
1 package of whole wheat no boil lasagna noodles (I got the Archer Farm brand from Target)
2 cups of mozzarella cheese
Wash the zucchini and grate it in a box grater. Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large skillet, sprinkle with garlic salt. I used a liberal amount because I heart garlic salt (probably a 1 1/2 tsp) and you can use more or less according to your taste. I also threw in about 1/2 cup of spinach for a super food punch. Cook 5-6 minutes, until wilted. In a separate bowl, pour in your spaghetti sauce. I love the Ragu Light because it doesn’t have oil or sugar in it. I do like to add a couple of packets of Splenda to it (just whisk it in) for a bit of sweetness. You could add honey to it or nothing at all, depending on your taste. In a separate bowl, combine Ricotta, egg yolk, parmesan cheese, 1 tsp of Italian season, 1 tsp of garlic salt (don’t be afraid to add more seasonings for your taste). Coat a 9×13 pan with olive oil. Layer in noodles, followed by spaghetti sauce, 1/2 of the zucchini, 1/2 of the ricotta, repeat. Layer a third and final layer of noodles, cover with spaghetti sauce, mozzarella cheese, sprinkle with garlic salt and more Italian seasoning and a drizzle of olive oil. Cover with foil. Bake for 30 minutes covered, remove foil and bake for an additional 15 minutes until it’s bubbly, brown, beautiful and smells divine.
We LOVED this! Now, lest you think I have miracle children, neither princess was game to try this tonight. Instead I boiled some whole wheat rotini that I coated with the sauce which they chowed down on and devoured. I’m cool with that (and wouldn’t want to give the youngest princess all that garlic anyway). Hope that you enjoy this recipe
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