About This Blog

This is, as the title indicates, my kitchen notebook (the header is actually a scanned image of the cover of a notebook that I started using about 25 years ago and the background is a stained page from that book). I am not a professional recipe writer. If you try any recipe here, please keep that in mind, these recipes have not been tested by an independent tester. The "recipes" are often not even really recipes but rather a list of ingredients that I've noted after preparing a dish on the fly that I thought came out well. Perhaps I've also added some instructions, but I rarely keep accurate track of what I've done in terms of time or temperature, I've just noted to the best of my memory (feeble) what I did.

Please feel free to take some inspiration from here, but on the other hand, please give credit where it is due. I also welcome any constructive comments that you might have if you are inspired to try a recipe. Questions are welcome, but keep in mind that I may not remember specifics. The dishes do evolve over time...

Thank you and enjoy!

Zucchini "Lasagna"

A massive glut of zucchini and an avoidance of carbs led to an experiment with using zucchini as a substitute for pasta for a meatless lasagna. I think I'm on to something here but the method still needs some work.

Zucchini is full of water so simply slicing zucchini and layering it with the other ingredients would just lead to a soupy mess. I've had a lot of success using fully dehydrated zucchini rounds in veggie stuffed frittatas where I simply toss the dried zucchini in with the rest of the veggies and don't even bother to reconstitute the zucchini. The zucchini slices absorb moisture and flavor from the other veggies and the eggs as the frittata bakes. I tried using partially dehydrated zucchini to try to mimic al dente pasta in the lasagna. This version was very good but it was still a bit too soupy.

I didn't weigh how much zucchini I used but it was 5 good sized Romanesco zucchini about 8 to 10 inches long and about 1 1/2 inches in diameter.

For my first attempt I sliced the zucchini lengthwise into 1/4-inch thick slices using a mandoline. Then I salted the slices (no measuring, a few generous 5 finger pinches of kosher salt) and let them sit for 1/2 hour to draw out some moisture. I then rinsed and dried the slices and let them dry in a dehydrator set to 125ºF for almost 2 hours, they were still moist and quite pliable, maybe about half the volume of the fresh slices.

I layered the zucchini with 2 cups of tomato sauce, 12 ounces of sheep's milk ricotta, 8 ounces of buffalo mozzarella, and an unmeasured amount (fairly generous couple of handfuls) of finely grated parmesan, and some drizzles of extra virgin olive. I used an oval gratin pan that's about 9 x 12 inches.

The "lasagna" baked at 350ºF for 30 minutes and then another 10 minutes at 325ºF until the top was nicely browned. We at it after it sat for about 30 minutes.

Adjustments for the next attempt:

- Allow the zucchini to sit with the salt for an hour and then increase the time in the dehydrator. 3 hours perhaps?

- Bake at 325ºF for the entire time. 45 minutes?

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