Long Time Gone

Well, the blog has suffered from lack of updates as of late, but now I'm back, I say!

Getting a lot of zucchini and summer squash in the CSA box lately. I was hit with the inspiration to make a lasagna with the squash as the noodles! I'd heard of it before, but didn't have a recipe, and it was after work one day, so I decided to take some short cuts (using a store bought tomato sauce and amping it up). I also had to figure out how to use my mandoline (still wrapped in plastic). It turned out to be super easy, and I'm in love with it now.



Vegetarian "No-Noodles" Summer Squash Lasagna

• Summer squash- I used a combination of zucchini, pattypan and crookneck. I used approximately 1 medium of each kind for a lasagna in an 8x8 pan. I had leftover slices, but leftover is okay.
• A red sauce of some sort, homemade or store bought. I used Lucini Sicilian Olive and Wild Caper sauce. I added chopped garlic and sliced crimini mushrooms.
  
• 1/3 package of Original Smart Ground.
• crimini mushrooms
• a few small carrots- or a couple big ones.
• goat cheese
• "Italian blend" cheese.

Preheat oven to 450.
Get your sauce going. I combined the store-bought tomato sauce with garlic and crimini mushrooms. The sauce I used was really flavorful- but flavor your sauce to your preference. Add the Smart Ground. This is a ground beef alternative, but you won't be able to really tell the difference, except it won't be fatty or greasy! Let the sauce meld flavors and warm up while you're prepping the rest of the ingredients.
Slice the squash on the mandoline into 1mm strips. I first cut the zucchini in half and ran it that way, but realized that leaving it whole was just as easy- or easier.
Slice the carrots on the mandoline into 1mm strips or rounds or oblongs.
I bought my crimini mushrooms already sliced, if you don't then slice them (not as thin as the other veggies).
Start layering! I put some sauce in the bottom of the pan (didn't grease the pan), then a layer of squash- not necessarily one slice thick, I was pretty random, as the pattypan was round, and I liked the squash layer about two slices thick. Add some carrot- I just sprinkled carrot slices on. Add some mushrooms. Add a layer "Italian cheese" and dot some goat cheese on top. Then another layer of sauce, veggies, and end with cheese. You can do as many layers as you want- this is the amount that fit in my dish.
Bake with some foil loosely covering the dish for 30 minutes. Uncover and cook for approximately 10 minutes more. Keep an eye (or nose) on it though- don't let it get TOO brown.