ZUCCHINI LASAGNA

ZUCCHINI LASAGNA
“Noodles”:
3 Zucchinis, cut lengthwise into strips and bake on a cookie tray for +- 3 – 5 minutes on each side at 425ºF.
Meat mixture:
± 850 g lean ground beef (if you want to have more meat, go for it)
1 bunch of green onions, chopped
1 bunch of kale, chopped
1 container fresh mushrooms, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
1 tin tomato and onion mix
1 heaped teaspoon garlic, minced
salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste
basil and rosemary to taste

In a large pan, cook ground beef until it’s browned, and drain fat if it’s too fatty. Add veggies, seasonings and tomato and onion mix. Bring to boil and let it simmer for ± 10 minutes, or till cooked through and you’re happy with it.
Cheese layer :
1 container of cottage cheese
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
Mix and keep aside.
½ cup shredded Mozzarella cheese to add at the very end as topping.
Prepare two tinfoil containers, (or one large one), big enough for your dish. (I usually end up with a different volume each time, as I use whatever I have in the fridge).
Place ½ the meat mixture in the bottom of your dish, place zucchini slices on the meat and then the cottage cheese mixture, top with remaining meat and zucchini slices, and lastly add the Mozzarella cheese.
This time, I prepared it in two smaller tinfoil containers as I want to freeze it.
Defrost in fridge overnight and then bake as follows: Cover with foil and bake at 375ºF for about 45 minutes. Remove foil and bake or broil for about 5 minutes.
Note –  Use whatever vegetables you have available and also the quantities can be adjusted as you wish, as it’s very versatile and none of my batches will ever be the same as the previous one, as I use a recipe as a guide and then make my own version which has no resemblance to the original one I started with. In this particular instance I had zucchini, mushrooms and kale I had to use, then looked to a ground beef recipe to incorporate, all I had on hand.
Recipe: Esmé Slabbert