Ingredients:
4 cups water
6 cups sliced zucchini ( about 3 medium)
1 lb ground round ( or use ground turkey, or meatless crumbles)
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups reduced-fat spaghetti sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
2 cups fat-free cottage cheese ( may use part ricotta or goat cheese)
1 tablespoon dried parsley
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
cooking spray
1/2 cup dry breadcrumbs, divided
1 3/4 cups preshredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Bring water to a boil in a large saucepan. Add zucchini; cook 3 minutes or until crisp-tender. Drain and cool. Or you may grill or saute the zucchini if you wish.
Place the ground beef(or turkey or crumbles) and garlic in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Cook until browned, stirring to break up meat. Stir in the spaghetti sauce, salt, basil, and oregano; cook for 1 minute. Remove from heat.
Combine the cottage cheese, parsley, and eggs in a medium bowl.
Arrange zucchini slices in a shallow 3-quart casserole coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle the zucchini with half of the breadcrumbs. Spread half of cottage cheese mixture over breadcrumbs; cover with half of the meat mixture and 1 cup mozzarella. Repeat the layers with the remaining breadcrumbs, cottage cheese mixture, and meat mixture; reserve the remaining mozzarella. Bake at 350 F for 40 minutes.
Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella, and bake an additional 5 minutes or until cheese melts.
Servings: 10
Time preparation: 20 min.
Time total: 80 min.