Sunday, August 25, 2013

Quick ricotta and courgette lasagne

Courgette lasagne / Suvikõrvitsalasanje

We are still eating lots of courgettes in our house, and still no end of the courgette/zucchini season in sight. Not that we're complaining, however, as it's one lovely and versatile vegetable, as long as you don't let it grow into a full-size huge marrow. Here's another one of my favourite courgette/zucchini dishes - a simple and quick and creamy courgette lasagne. You'll need a 400 g jar of good tomato sauce - either home-made marinara-type sauce (say, this or this), or a decent ready-made one.

Creamy ricotta and courgette lasagne
(Suvikõrvitsalasanje)
Serves three to four
Adapted from BBC Olive (Quick courgette lasagne)

2 Tbsp olive oil
750 g courgette/zucchini (about 2 medium-sized fruits), coarsely grated
2 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
0.5 tsp (Aleppo) chilli flakes
250 g ricotta
a large handful of fresh basil leaves, finely chopped
3 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese + more for sprinkling
400 g good-quality ready-made tomato sauce
6 lasagne sheets
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Heat the oven to 200 C/400 F.

Heat a tablespoonful of oil in a large frying pan. Add the grated courgette, chopped garlic and chilli flakes. Season with a little salt. Sauté over medium heat until soft, stirring every now and then. Remove from the heat, fold in the ricotta cheese, chopped basil and 3 Tbsp of Parmesan cheese.

Take a small oven dish (mine is 25x35 cm). Spread about a third of the ricotta-courgette mixture at the bottom, then spoon a quarter of the tomato sauce on top. Cover with three lasagne sheets. Then half of the remaining ricotta-courgette mixture, a third of the remaining tomato sauce, lasagne sheets. Top with the remaining ricotta-courgette mixture and then the rest of the tomato sauce. Sprinkle generously with Parmesan cheese.

Bake in a pre-heated 200 C/400 F oven for about 20-25 minutes, until the lasagne is cooked and the topping "bubbles".

Remove from the oven and let it rest for about 15 minutes before serving.

More favourite courgette/zucchini recipes:
Courgette and Parmesan tart @ Nami-Nami
Courgette salad with poppyseeds @ Nami-Nami
Courgette cake with lemon frosting (Lemon and Zucchini Cake) @ Nami-Nami
Oven-baked zucchini and tomatoes with feta @ Nami-Nami
Estonian courgette and cheese soup (Zucchini and Cheese Soup) @ Nami-Nami
Greek Zucchini Pie (Kourkouto) @ Nami-Nami
Roasted marrow with garlic and herbs @ Nami-Nami

Courgette/Zucchini lasagne recipes:
Creamy courgette lasagne @ The English Kitchen
Angela's Zucchini lasagna @ The Italian Dish
Carrot, Courgette, Ricotta lasagne @ Apple and Spice
Ricotta, courgette and spinach lasagne @ Chilli Marmalade
Vegetable lasagna @ Inspired Taste
Kale, zucchini lasagna$5 Dinners
Spinach and courgette lasagne @ My French Kitchen

7 comments:

ScienceMel said...

Looks lovely! I'm curious - you don't parboil the pasta? And, there is no pasta on the bottom?

tanita✿davis said...

We have enjoyed many courgettes this season as well - and I have a new take on the faux "crab cakes" recipes from a summer ago - the addition of quinoa.

2 green scallions, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 small courgettes, grated and drained/squeezed in cheesecloth to dry
1 c. cooked quinoa
1 c. bread crumbs
2 eggs, lightly beaten
salt/pepper to taste

Combine and let set for fifteen minutes, and then fry them. Served with roasted sweetcorn or fresh on the cob, they're very tasty!

Pille said...

Tanita, thank you for the "crab cake" recipe!!!

Pille said...

Melinda, I never do. I usually use Barilla lasagne sheets, and these don't require parboiling - but perhaps some brands do, so do check the instructions on the packet first. The zucchini-ricotta mix and tomato sauce are moist enough as well.

And yes, you start with the sauce (zucchini-ricotta in this case), and then the pasta layer. Otherwise the pasta would dry out and stick to the base.

Paleo Diet Menu said...

looks very nice, thanks for the recipe ill give it a try.

Ben

mark love wine said...

Nice!I usually use Barilla lasagne sheets, and these don't require parboiling.
Thank you for share.

ScienceMel said...

Again… Many thanks for this recipe. We love it here in Florida.

The only things we've done differently is doubled the ingredients (because its wonderful rewarmed) and added a small red onion to the courgette sweat down.

Doug is a chef and he was mightily pleased yesterday. Thank you again for sharing this.