May 9, 2014

Zucchini Meat Lasagna (low carb, low fat)


  • 1 lb extra lean ground beef
  • 1 bottle spaghetti sauce (or use the recipe below)
  • 2 zucchini
  • 2 cups fat reduced cottage cheese
  • 1/4 cup Fat Reduced Parmesan grated
  • 1/2 cup Parmesan shaved
  • 1/2 cup liquid egg white, (or 2 Eggs)
  • 1-2 Tbsp Italian seasonings
  • 4 oz fat reduced mozzarella, shredded
  • Salt
  1. Thinly cut the zucchini in strips. We used a vegetable peeler. Put aside in a colander tossed with some salt. (This is an important step. We didn't do this for long and our lasagna was hugely soupy. Still good, but I poured off the liquid to make it better when eating leftovers.) let them drain for 15 mins to an hour. Gets the water out of them. Rinse before using.
  2. Brown hamburger and drain. You could add red onion to the hamburger while cooking but we had none so I left that step out. It would only enhance the flavor if you did though.
  3. Add half the can/jar of sauce to the hamburger in the pan.
  4. In a bowl, mix the cottage cheese, egg and Parmesans. If you only have one type of Parmesan, use that.
  5. Add the Italian seasoning.  Now its time to layer!
  6. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
  7. Pour almost the rest of the sauce into the bottle of a cake pan. Reserve just a bit to spread on the top at the end. Several tablespoons only.
  8. Layer in this order: 1/4 zucchini strips laid out, 1/3 hamburger/sauce mixture, 1/3 cottage cheese mixture, 1/4 of mozzarella sprinkled on. 
  9. Repeat until you're left with 1/4 zucchini and 1/4 mozzarella. Mozzarella would normally come next in your order but we put the zucchini next to save the mozzarella for the top. Put the last zucchini layer, the rest of the sauce you saved, then the last of the mozzarella.
  10. If you have any Parmesan left, sprinkle some on the top.
  11. Bake for 30-45 mins, watching for lots of bubbling and light browning top.
  12. Let sit for 10-15 mins for juices to thicken, we weren't really able to wait that long. So so good!

8 large servings - 316 calories, 8.5 carbs, 2.4 fiber per serving

Sauce Recipe 

  • 2 teaspoons olive oil
  • 1/2 small onion, chopped
  • 2 green onions, chopped
  • 2 teaspoons crushed garlic
  • 1 (28 ounce) can peeled and diced tomatoes
  • 4 teaspoons dried basil
  • 4 teaspoons dried oregano
  1. In a large saucepan heat oil over medium heat. Saute onion, green onion and garlic. When onions are clear, stir in tomatoes, basil, and oregano. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 20 minutes.

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