Ingredients

  • 40g Grana Padano PDO cheese
  • 1 or 2 zucchini, depending on their size
  • 300g fresh spinach
  • 350g cottage cheese
  • 400g tomato sauce
  • 1 egg M
  • 1 clove garlic
  • freshly ground black pepper
  • Salt (to taste of each house)
  • Oregano
  • extra virgin olive oil

During practically the whole year, we can enjoy courgettes on our tables. It is an almost essential ingredient in many recipes. Vegetable purées or creams and especially the extremely tasty ratatouille, has zucchini as an essential part of its ingredients. But his gastronomic contribution does not stop there.

Zucchini offers us a lighter version of many traditionally higher-calorie dishes. Substituting pasta for courgette noodles as if they were spaghetti for delicious salads or hot dishes or, as in the case of today’s recipe, substituting lasagna slices for thin slices of courgette, are fantastic examples of how much and good that they offer us this vegetable.

We have got down to work with a delicious recipe with vegetables. A gluten-free and practically carbohydrate-free zucchini lasagna that will delight the whole family. The secret of this recipe is in its vegetables , spinach and zucchini in abundance and our favorite cheese for these recipes, Grana Padano PDO. A cheese matured for more than 16 months with an intense sweet touch, which is not imposed on other flavors, which will contribute all its aroma and flavor to the recipe, without a doubt, a success in the combination of flavors.

It is a simple recipe, where the biggest complication is to cut the zucchini slices longitudinally and very thin. A different way of presenting the same dish, a delight full of vegetables and flavor. I hope you like it and you are encouraged to prepare it at home.

Preparation of zucchini lasagna with Grana Padano cheese

  1. Grate the Grana Padano PDO cheese and reserve it. We will save the cheese to use it in the filling of the lasagna. At the end of the process we will cover the surface with freshly grated cheese.
  2. In a frying pan, heat a splash of extra virgin olive oil. Add the washed, well drained and chopped spinach. Sauté spinach for 2-3 minutes until softened.
  3. Add the chopped garlic clove and sauté it with the spinach for 1 or 2 minutes. Add a pinch of salt, black pepper and oregano. Mix well to integrate the aromas and flavors. Remove the mixture from the heat.
  4. Put the spinach in a bowl and, once it is warm, add the rest of the ingredients for the lasagna filling. Add the egg, cottage cheese and Grana Padano cheese. Mix well until we have a homogeneous cream. We booked.
  5. Wash the courgettes, remove the ends and cut them into slices. We must try to get the thinnest sheets possible, 2 to 3 millimeters would be perfect. It is advisable to use rather small courgettes. They will be ideal for this type of preparation.
  6. We spread a layer of tomato sauce on the base of the tray that we are going to use to assemble the lasagna. For these quantities, the most suitable dimension will be about 20 x 20 cm. On top of the tomato layer, place a first layer of courgette slices.
  7. On this first layer of courgette we spread half of the cream of spinach and Grana Padano PDO cheese. Put the second layer of courgette slices on top and cover them with the rest of the spinach cream.

Baking and final presentation of the zucchini lasagna

  1. Preheat the oven to 200º C about 5 minutes before putting the lasagna.
  2. Pour the rest of the tomato sauce and cover the entire surface of the lasagna. Sprinkle freshly grated PDO Grana Padano cheese on top.
  3. Bake in the middle tray for about 20 minutes at 180º C (lower from 200º to 180º C) and 10 minutes with the grill set on so that it browns. The first 20 minutes with temperature up, down and air. The last 5 minutes only with the gratin to make it crispy.
  4. Garnish with a little oregano and sprinkle with a little more Grana Padano cheese. In this case I have presented it in a glass dish, but it can go in a dish or clay pot. There you have it, serve it warm. I assure you that it generously reaches 4-5 people.

Tips for a yummy zucchini lasagna

  • Although we have used the courgette slices as separating layers, we could also form small rolls with the spinach cream and cover them in this way with the tomato sauce.
  • If you have any leftovers, you can store it in the fridge for 3-4 days without any problem, or make more and freeze it to take out this lasagna whenever you feel like it. You only have to freeze the baked lasagna, let it cool down and avoid storing it in an aluminum mold, it is better to use other containers made of other materials such as glass or plastic. And if you are one or two at home, better in individual packages. You can keep it in the freezer for 3 to 6 months.

Categorized in:

Recipes