Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Red Pepper and Ricotta Mock Lasagna

I was adventurous in the kitchen last night... and it turned out absolutely wonderful! Everyone raved about the meal. This is a fantastic low-carb, gluten-free supper. Here's what I made:

Red Pepper and Ricotta Mock Lasagna:
  • two large or three medium zucchini
  • sea salt and black pepper
  • one large onion
  • three medium or two large red bell peppers
  • 4 large garlic cloves
  • Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • 15 oz. ricotta cheese
  • meat from 1/2 large chicken
  • 12 oz mozzarella cheese, preferably hormone-free
  • one jar of marinara sauce
First, you want to prepare the zucchini. This is what you'll be using instead of lasagna noodles. Slice them thinly lengthwise. Salt both sides and let them drain in a colander for about 45 minutes. This will draw out the extra moisture so that your lasagna is not too runny.



While the zucchini is draining, saute one large onion in extra virgin olive oil. Add your red bell peppers and minced garlic cloves and let cook until the onions soften.



Add the ricotta cheese and chicken. Season with a bit of salt and lots of pepper. Mix well.

Assemble your ingredients for layering. First rinse and dry your zucchini slices. Grate 12 ounces of white cheese. While mozzarella would be the traditional choice, we used a Mellow Cheddar by Minerva. Also, I used an organic marinara sauce from Earth Fare.


Pour 1/3 of the sauce in the bottom of your baking dish. Add a layer of zucchini. Layer 1/2 of the chicken mixture, 1/3 of the cheese, a second layer of zucchini, 1/3 of the sauce, the rest of the chicken, 1/3 of the cheese, the last of the zucchini, the last of the sauce and the remaining cheese. Here's what mine looked like halfway through:



Bake at 350 for 45 minutes. Our family likes vegetables with a little bit of crunch still in them. If you want your zucchini totally soft, cover your lasagna with aluminum foil to bake for the first 30 minutes. Then bake uncovered for the last 15 minutes. The foil will keep in the steam and cook the zucchini more thoroughly.



Important: Let stand 5 minutes before serving so that the juices absorb. Serve with a garden salad on the side.

8 comments:

Pami said...

sounds really good and good for you I will be trying this, thanks for the recipe

Tonya said...

Looks delicious!!! Maybe my family will go for it - I'll have to give it a try!

Tonya

Noel said...

oh I've got to do this. I've been craving lasagna, but can't have all that fat. Did you make this recipe yourself? Good job :)

Anonymous said...

You enjoy making my tummy growl dontcha? That's pretty mean of you LOL, hey this is low-carb? Pretty nifty! Do you know how many carbs it contains? It'd be perfect for my husband when he goes back on his low carb diet :) thanks for sharing!

Lisa@BlessedwithGrace said...

That looks great. Love the use of all the veggies!

Ilse said...

This sounds great! I will have to try it.
Ilse

Tonya said...

Hey there, Friend!

I'm SOOOOO HAPPY to have met you. (You said you found me through Martha at Fly Away Birdie.. don't you just LOVE her???) ☺

I'm following YOU TOO now! Man, I sure need some encouragement on better ways to eat. I CANNOT WAIT to try your recipe you posted. It looks WONDERFUL!!!

Thanks for the sweet comment - it was GREAT to meet you! ☺

Unknown said...

I made this last night-it was a hit! We made it meatless this time. Very good, thanks for sharing. It was a little soupy, but probably b/c I didn't let it sit long enough after cooking-we were hungry! I also cut up the leftover pieces after it had been in the fridge and would retain it's shape, and froze them in little individual foil packets for a quick meal on a busy night. Hope it will turn out! I'm going to try something similar but use eggplant instead. THanks, keep the recipes coming!