Skillet Lasagna with Shredded Zucchini

Tips and Comments
This recipe is a good way to use zucchini or other summer squash when your plants are producing more than you expected. Shredding the zucchini makes this dish palatable to most people who don't like zucchini because of its texture. (You can only eat so much zucchini bread, another favorite recipe for "sneaking in" some zucchini). And the strong flavors of a tomato-based spaghetti sauce mask the flavor of even the darkest green zucchinis, with the overall effect of making the sauce taste milder.

Some of the extra moisture released from the squash is absorbed by the no-boil lasagna noodles as they cook. If you're too rushed to make lasagna, you can add a little shredded zucchini to almost any chunky pasta sauce. Or use part zucchini and part shredded carrots (for a slightly sweeter taste).

Yellow zucchini or straighneck squash looks especially nice in this recipe. It would also work with steamed and flaked-out strands of spaghetti squash. I prefer immature spaghetti squashes (when the rind can still be easily pierced by a fingernail) to ripe ones when serving with a tomato-based sauces. Even if you like ripe spaghetti squash, there are always a few fruits which don't mature to the hard-rind stage by the end of the season. This would be one good way to use them.

The recipe below makes a lot of lasagna.  If you wanted to halve the recipe, a 9 x 9 inch baking pan or skillet would allow you to use one sheet of noodles per layer of the Ondine noodles.   There are also "no boil" lasagna noodles which look more like the traditional ones, which might be more convenient for this recipe. Or see the 2-layer variation (using only 2 pounds of cottage cheese) at the end of the recipe. It cooks in about 25 minutes after layering the prepared ingredients. It's the one I usually make now.

You could also bake the recipe below in the oven (try 20 minutes at 350 degrees before topping with cheese, or estimate baking time from a recipe on the package of your no-boil lasagna noodles), but it's too hot here to bake right now, so I made it in a big (12 x 16 inch) non-stick electric skillet. I used "no boil" lasagna noodles which came in thin, corrugated sheets, about 8 x 8 inches. I broke them to fit the skillet.  The Ondine brand noodles came with a recipe for vegetable lasagna, with no tomatoes, on the package.  It includes only vegetables, oil, a little cheese, and chicken broth.  The translation wasn't perfect, and I haven't tried it yet.

Ingredients
Vegetable or olive oil
1 large onion, chopped (leave out if kids hate onions)
1 pound very lean ground beef or turkey (optional)
5 to 7 cups coarsely shredded zucchini or other summer squash (remove seeds from really big squashes)
Salt to taste (about 3/4 teaspoon, less if spaghetti sauce or cheese are quite salty)
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 large jar (32 ounces) spaghetti sauce

3 pounds (5 1/2 or 6 cups) cottage cheese *
1/4 cup minced fresh scallions or sweet onion
3 to 5 oz. Parmesan or Romano cheese, finely grated
3/4 pound to 1 pound part-skim Mozzarella cheese, grated
No-boil lasagna noodles

Directions
Saute chopped onion in a little oil in the skillet in which you will prepare the lasagna. When onions are translucent and have begun to brown (or caramelize them if you like), add the meat, breaking it up as it cooks. When about half the pink has disappeared from the meat, add the zucchini, salt and pepper and stir into the meat. Cover and allow to cook until the meat is no longer pink and the squash starts to turn translucent .

Adding the zucchini while the meat is partially pink should result in meat which is more tender. If you want the shredded squash to retain more texture in the finished lasagna, add the spaghetti sauce as soon as you add the squash.

Reserve about 1 1/2 cups of spaghetti sauce (to spread over the bottom of the skillet) and mix the remainder into the squash mixture. Allow to simmer for a few minutes, covered. Meanwhile, mix the minced sweet onion or scallions into the cottage cheese, along with 1/2 to 2/3 of the grated Parmesan or Romano cheese.

Spoon squash mixture into a large bowl. Spread reserved spaghetti sauce evenly over the bottom of the skillet. Add a little water to reduce to the consistency of common canned tomato sauce, if necessary.

Place one layer of lasagna noodles over the spaghetti sauce, breaking pieces to fit as necessary. Leave about 1/2 inch between the noodles and around the edges of the skillet.

Working quickly, spoon half of the cottage cheese mixture over the noodles and spread fairly evenly. Sprinkle with about 1/4 of the Mozzarella cheese. Dot with about 1/4 of the squash mixture, and spread it over the cheese layer.

Add a second layer of noodles, perpendicular to the direction you used for the last layer (more or less - don't be too concerned about precision). Working quickly, spread the remaining cottage cheese mixture over the noodles, followed by 1/4 of the Mozzarella cheese and 1/4 of the squash mixture.

Top with another layer of noodles, according to the directions above. Dot with the remaining 1/2 of the squash mixture and spread the mixture to cover all of the noodles.

Cover tightly and simmer (you want some bubbles reaching the top, but not vigorous bubbling) for about 40 minutes, until noodles are cooked through when you test a piece. Mix the remaining Mozzarella and Parmesan or Romano cheeses and sprinkle evenly over the lasagna. Cover and cook for another 5 minutes. (If baking in the oven, do not cover after adding the last layer of cheese). Turn off heat to the skillet but leave it covered, allowing lasagna to rest for 10 minutes. Or remove from oven and allow to rest for 10 minutes. Serve.

* 2-LAYER VARIATION:  I later made this recipe using 2 pounds of cottage cheese and only 2 layers of noodles, leaving the rest of the ingredients about the same.    I reserved plenty of sauce/squash mixture to go over the cottage cheese layer which topped the second layer of noodles.  It cooked faster with only 2 pounds of cottage cheese - in 25 minutes.  I still let it rest, covered, with the heat off, for 10 minutes. The time necessary to cook the noodles may vary with the brand of no-boil lasagna.

Allergy Information: We have a friend who is allergic to squash. Some people with a latex allergy have a cross-allergy to squash or to some other foods, especially certain immature fruits (like summer squash). Some varieties of Classico Spaghetti Sauce contain no corn products.