Layered Ground Beef And Zucchini Lasagna Casserole

Total Time: 1 hr 35 mins Preparation Time: 50 mins Cook Time: 45 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 6
• 5 cups water (you might need more water)
• 3 medium zucchini, sliced
• 2/3 cup dry breadcrumbs, divided
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons fresh minced garlic (or to taste)
• 1 -2 teaspoon dried chili pepper flakes (optional or to taste)
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 4 cups pasta sauce
• 3 cups ricotta cheese (or use 2 cups ricotta and 1 cup creamed cottage cheese)
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten (or use 2 small eggs)
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 3 cups mozzarella cheese, divided (can use more)
• 1 tablespoon dried parsley (can use fresh chopped parsley)
• salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

Recipe

• 1 preheat oven to 350 degrees f (set oven rack to lowest position).
• 2 grease a 13 x 9-inch baking dish.
• 3 bring about 5 cups water to a boil in a saucepan.
• 4 add in the sliced zucchini; simmer for 3 minutes or until just crisp-tender; drain on paper towels or a clean tea towel then cool.
• 5 in a skillet cook the ground beef with onion, dried chili flakes, basil and oregano until the beef is no longer pink; drain fat.
• 6 add in garlic and continue cooking the beef until lightly browned.
• 7 add in the pasta sauce; cook for about 10-15 minutes, season with salt and pepper; remove from heat.
• 8 in a bowl mix together the ricotta with egg/s, garlic powder, 1 cup mozzarella cheese, dried parsley; mix to combine, then season with salt and pepper to taste.
• 9 arrange all of the zucchini slices in the bottom of the baking dish (the slices do not have to be in one layer) then sprinkle with about 1/3 cup dry breadcrumbs.
• 10 dollop half of the ricotta mixture over the breadcrumbs, then cover with half of the beef mixture, then sprinkle about 1 cup mozzarella cheese on top.
• 11 repeat the layers with remaining 1/3 cup breadcrumbs, ricotta mixture, then meat mixture (reserve the remaining 1 cup mozzarella cheese for the top after baking).
• 12 sprinkle 1/2 cup or more parmesan cheese over the top of the meat mixture.
• 13 place the baking dish on a baking sheet to catch any spills.
• 14 bake uncovered for about 44-50 minutes or until heated through.
• 15 sprinkle remaining 1 cup mozzarella cheese on top and return to oven for another 5-8 minutes.