Italian Sausage Zucchini Lasagna
This Zucchini Lasagna is a whole new take on healthy, low carb lasagna. Using zucchini "noodles" and lightened up Italian "sausage" it brings all the lasagna flavor you're craving!
Happy National Acorn Squash Day!
(If you didn't believe that every food has its holiday, today would be a good place to start.)
Honestly, with as much as we love acorn squash, it might be surprising that we don't have an acorn squash dish for you today.
Ok. We were kind of sad too, but there is way too much zucchini coming out of our garden for us to go in search of other squash cousins right now.
Low carb lasagna with zucchini noodles!
Using zucchini instead of pasta seems to be all the rage right now. And, we though, why not lasagna?
I must say, we were surprised how well the zucchini held up in the dish. We still had "noodles" to cut through when serving the dish, and the layers stayed incredibly distinct. WOW!
Lightened up sausage flavors
This lasagna gives some classic flavors a lighter twist, first by using zucchini slices instead of noodles. The second "lightened up" twist we've thrown is to use spiced lean ground beef instead of actual Italian sausage. You'll be surprised how close the beef tastes to actual Italian sausage when you use the same seasoning that give Italian sausage its distinctive flavor to season ground beef!
Italian "Sausage" Zucchini Lasagna
Ingredients
For the Zucchini "Noodles"
- 1 medium zucchini (roughly 1¼ lbs)
- 1 teaspoon salt
For the Sauce
- ½ lb ground beef (85% lean)
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 green pepper, diced
- 2 tomatoes, diced
- 1 (6 oz) can tomato paste
- ¼ c water
- 2 tablespoon red wine
- 1 bay leaf, crumbled
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon whole fennel seeds
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- ¼ teaspoon thyme
- Pinch ground coriander seeds
Putting It Together
- 2 c mozzarella cheese, shredded
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350F.
Prepare the Zucchini "Noodles"
- Slice zucchini into ¼” strips. Lay strips on a paper towel and sprinkle salt over both sides. Set aside to sweat for 15-20 minutes.
Prepare the Sauce
- While the zucchini sweats, brown the beef in a large skillet. Add onions and green peppers. Sauté for 3-5 minutes until peppers are soft.
- Add remaining sauce ingredients. Simmer, uncovered, 5-7 minutes or until sauce is thick and fragrant. Remove from the heat.
Putting It Together
- Pat zucchini slices dry.
- In an 8x8 baking dish layer 1 cup sauce, ⅓ of the zucchini slices, and ½ c cheese. Repeat the layers twice more, but do not add the final layer (½ c) of cheese.
- Cover the lasagna with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes.
- Uncover the dish and top with the remaining cheese. Bake for an additional 15-20 minutes, until the cheese is melted and the lasagna is bubbly in the center.
- Remove from the oven and let stand 5-10 minutes before serving.
Nutrition
Sarah founded Curious in 2010 as a way to save her recipe creations and share culinary experiences. Her love for cultural cuisines was instilled early by her French Canadian Grandmother. Her experience in the kitchen and in recipe development comes from over 10 years working in professional kitchens. She has traveled extensively and enjoys bringing the flavors of her travels back to create easy-to-make recipes.
Mmm! Even our picky eaters would like this!
I love the idea of using zucchini slices as lasagna noodles!! I'm totally making this!!
I'm bookmarking this for later, I've always been curious about using zucchini in place of lasagna noodles and have heard/read so many horror stories. Thanks for posting this, it sounds great!
Lucky you Sarah that you've got an abundance of zukes! I eat them almost everyday. (No kidding!) Brilliant idea to substitute the veggies for the noodles...Then a bigger serving can be enjoyed guilt-free! =)
What a great idea using zucchini instead of lasagna, I have to try that. Your recipe looks amazing!!
your welcome, Sarah! We enjoyed hosting! This looks fab btw!! : ) I love the zucchini "noodles" - I'm definitely going to try this!
This is so easy for me to make vegetarian, I LOVE the idea of using zucchini in place of pasta for lasagna!!
Fabulous looking lasagna! Thanks for sharing it for Squash Fest!
I'm sharing this with Dad. He's doing the low/no carb thing and would LOVE this! Pinned, too.
I used to make a version of this when we were newlyweds! I didn't miss the noodles one bit! Thanks for the reminder 🙂
Yummy! Love the idea of subbing thick slices of zucchini for the pasta. Much easier on calories and carbs, and looks very tasty!!!
Guess what? This just made it to my 'must make' list, too!! Gorgeous!!
I love zucchini lasagna and your sauce with the sausage is simply perfect!
How great that the zucchini slices held up after baking. I'm so glad to see that and will give it a try next time I make lasagna.