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I love a dish that combines a bunch of different veggies and this dish hits the spot. I spotted this recipe by Teresa Cutter (The Healthy Chef) in an edition of Fitness First magazine that is distributed in Australia for members. In case you missed it, I am obsessed with Teresa’s recipes from both her website, and her 80/20 diet book. Teresa’s recipe uses just asparagus but I added a layer of red peppers. Next time I think I will throw in some corn kernels but the possibilities are endless! You can check out Teresa’s web site here.

I can’t even remember the last time I had a lasagne made with pasta sheets. Besides being a carb dodger, I have never found anywhere that does a good veggie lasagne and by good I mean uses lots of veggies rather than just the standard spinach and cheese. This is such a good idea to use thinly sliced zucchini/courgettes as the ‘pasta’. I think this will become a regular dish for us as it’s very similar to a veggie bake.

Time it takes: 1 hour

Ingredients for 2 servings:

• 125g fine asparagus, trimmed 
• 1 red pepper/capsicum, sliced into batons
• 2 medium sized zucchini/courgettes 
• fresh basil leaves, some sliced for the napolitana sauce
• black pepper 
• 200g cottage cheese or low fat ricotta 
• 2 spring onion, sliced 
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg 
• 2 egg whites 
• 20g grated Parmesan
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 400g tin chopped tomatoes

Method: 

1. Boil a large pot of water and blanch the asparagus and peppers for 1 minute then drain well. 
2. Slice the zucchini thinly on a mandolin lengthways (this is your pasta replacement.) 
3. Scoop the cottage cheese or ricotta into a blender or food processor then add the egg whites and nutmeg. Blend until smooth and creamy.  
4. Fold in the spring onion by hand. 
5. Layer ingredients into a loaf pan in the following order so you end up with 3 layers of zucchini: zucchini – black pepper – cheese mix – asparagus – basil  – zucchini – black pepper – cheese mix – red peppers – basil – zucchini – ricotta mix – grated parmesan cheese. 
6. Bake in a moderate 180 C oven for about 45 mins – 1 hour until golden then serve with a simple napolitana sauce.
7. To make the napolitana sauce quickly sauté the onion until golden then add the chopped tomatoes, and a little sliced basil.  Simmer for 2 – 3 minutes and season with a little salt and pepper. 

NB: for a dairy free version substitute the cottage cheese with good quality silken tofu.

I really love this recipe! I don’t like pasta dishes as they are usually quite ‘heavy’, and being the carb-dodger and ‘no red meat’ fan that I am, I don’t usually even look twice at them. This works out like a lovely, satisfying vegetable bake which is perfect for a Sunday afternoon lunch when it’s cold outside. Comfort food without the calories and fat! Enjoy!

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