Planet Veggie Garden

Zucchini - so Italian, yes? Well, the zucchini’s roots lie not in Europe but in South America.

Truth be told, wild squashes tended to be void of edible material and were very bitter, bleck. But, some industrious farmer saw potential and cultivated these wild barely edible gourds to the point that when Chris Columbus landed in the ‘New’ world he had to bring this delectable Native American food back to the Queen.

Zucchini is considered a summer squash and cousin to melons and cucumbers. They come in many varieties with each type sporting distinct shapes, color and flavor. Since these vegetables are in the same family, you can plant these in rotation together. Rotating as in not planting the veggies of the same family in the same bed for at least three years.

In the Territorial Seed Company catalog there are 16 varieties from the more common green zucchini to yellow crook necks to varigated ridged zuc’s to disk shaped saucers in hues of white, yellow and many shades of green to round globe shaped squash. All are tasty, tender and creamy in texture.

Creamy you say?

Why yes. In the case of summer squash, size does matter and the smaller the better - say 4″ in diameter for the round or saucers and no more than 6″ for the elongated varieties. As summer squash grow they fill up with water so when you cook them the flavor and texture - are, well… watery. Most of the time these overgrown watery squash are pre-ordained for zucchini bread - who could complain about that?

Well, its nice to have variety so chefs long ago devised ways to use up these bronto-zucchinis. When I end up with bronto squash - which, well, honestly hasn’t happened this year due to my poor soil - everything is growing slowly and staying tiny…

…Nonetheless, this zucchini lasagna is a favorite among my low-carb cooking clients. For this particular lasagna, I actually had to run out and buy large zuc’s!

Here is the recipe for a 9″ x 9″ lasagna using zucchini in place of the pasta.

One way to reduce the water in any vegetable is to salt it - through the magic of osmosis the water is drawn out.

The ideal size of zucchini for this is about 12″. Take a 10 or 12″ chef’s knife and slice the zucchini lengthwise into approximately 3/8″ slices. Lay these out on clean kitchen towels and lightly salt with a few pinches for each side. Cover with another kitchen towel and weigh down with a sheet pan or cutting board.

Now onto preparing the rest of the ingredients. You can use whatever you traditionally use for your lasagna. One version of mine uses a layer of ground turkey, a mixture of spinach and ricotta, marinara, parmesan and mozzarella cheese.

The turkey mixture is a take on bolognese -

Brown 3/4 pound of ground free range dark meat turkey with 1/2 a diced onion, 2 minced cloves of garlic, 1 diced carrot and celery stalk, 1 teaspoon of Italian seasoning, 1 bay leaf and a big pinch of sea salt.

When the turkey is cooked through and the liquid is evaporated add 1 1/2 cups (or more) of red wine. Now about that red wine…don’t go using that two buck swill - though you don’t need to break the bank either…just use something you could actually drink and enjoy.

Simmer until it is almost all evaporated. Add 1/2 cup heavy cream and simmer until it is almost evaporated.

Now add about 1 1/2 cups of your favorite marinara.

Simmer until it is very thick. Season with sea salt and fresh ground pepper.

For the spinach ricotta mixture: defrost 1 bag of chopped organic spinach - squeeze out as much excess water as possible and mix with 1 egg, a 15 oz tub of whole milk ricotta, salt and pepper to taste.

Then you want to have about 2 cups of marinara or other favorite pasta sauce, 1 1/2 to 2 cups of grated mozzarella and 1/3 cup grated parmesan ready for the next step.

By now your zucchini should have a good amount of water pressed out. You can see in the picture the zucchini strips laid out on the towels.

Before assembly preheat your oven to 350F.

Assembly: oil a 9″ x 9″ pan with extra virgin olive oil

Layer 1: pour in about 1/2 cup of marinara then lay down enough zucchini strips to cover the bottom - overlapping is fine.

Layer 2: spread the turkey ‘bolognese’ over the zucchini and sprinkle over the turkey half of the parmesan. Lay down another layer of zucchini.

Layer 3: spread the spinach ricotta over the zucchini and lay another layer of zucchini over that.

Layer 4: pour a nice layer of marinara over the top and spread to the edges. Pop into the oven.

Bake for about 1 hour.

Remove from oven and top with the grated mozzarella and remaining parmesan. Return to oven and bake another 30 minutes or until the mozzarella has melted and turned a nice golden brown.

Let rest for 15 to 20 minutes then serve. Enjoy!

Here are a few more like this one:

• It’s (yet another) Zucchini Friday!
• Zucchini Friday: 3 meals, 9 zucchini dishes
• Fall’s Butternut Squash