Delish Zucchini Lasagna

Last summer, I had what seemed like one million zucchini growing in my garden, in fact I still have bags and bags of shredded zucchini in my freezer. I found lots of great recipes for zucchini because of it. This one being one of my favorites, plus the whole family enjoys it which is great. I have been craving this for some time now, so I bought a zucchini at the farmer's market. I think I can claim this recipe as my own because I tried a few recipes and then I kindof combined them all into one recipe that is quite delish and really simple. First, I'll give you my recipe for the Basil Tomato Sauce(although you don't have to use this, you could use your own spaghetti sauce recipe or even store bought)

Basil Tomato Sauce

2 Tbls. butter

2 Tbls. olive oil

1 small onion, finely minced

1 garlic clove

1/4 cup dry white wine

3 pounds ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped, or 2 16oz. cans tomato puree

salt and freshly ground pepper

1/2 cup julienne of fresh basil

Melt the butter with the oil in a heavy skillet over medium-low heat. Add onion and garlic and cook until translucent. Add wine and boil until reduced to glaze. Add tomatoes and simmer until thickened, about 40 minutes. Season with salt and pepper; stir in basil and serve.

I just love this sauce, it is really easy to make ( the only thing that really takes any time is getting the fresh tomatoes ready). I made tons of this last summer and was planning to can it all, it turned out that I bought the wrong kind of canner, so I ended up freezing it all, and we are still eating it!

Zucchini Lasagna

1 large zucchini ( I had quite a large one and didn't even use the whole thing)

1 garlic clove, minced

2 tsp. oregano

1 box of oven ready lasagna noodles (you will only use half the box)

15 oz. ricotta, part skim

1 egg white, plus 1 whole egg

1 tsp. oregano

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated, divided

1/2 lb. shredded mozzarella, divided
Probably about 3 cups of tomato basil sauce (or any other spaghetti sauce)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Peel and slice the zucchini into 1/4" slices and mix with the minced garlic clove and the 2 tsp. oregano.

Combine ricotta, egg white , whole egg, 1 tsp. oregano, and 1/2 of the Parmesan in a small bowl.

Spread half of the tomato basil sauce in the bottom of a (12"x8"x2") baking pan.

Top with zucchini slices, then 3 pieces of the uncooked oven ready noodles, then half the ricotta mixture and half of the mozzarella. Repeat the layers. Sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan cheese.

Bake for 30 minutes covered, then uncover and cook an additional 15 minutes until lightly browned. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

This is alot of lasagna, it feeds our family of five twice plus a lunch for me, so either be prepared to eat tons of lasagna or invite friends over to share it! Enjoy!