Recipe: Chrissy Teigen’s Zucchini Lasagna Bolognese

Chrissy Teigen’s Cravings is one of my all time favorite cookbooks.  I mean, I’m all for wellness and living the Gwyneth life… but sometimes you want something really delicious. And in this case, it’s something delicious that is actually low carb too. A month or so ago I cooked dinner for my family and chose to cook Chrissy’s lasagna bolognese (swapping zucchini slices for pasta) and it was one of the most delicious things I’ve ever made. And so I’m sharing the recipe today here… but if you don’t already have her cookbook, pick it up – it’s a good one!!!

You’ll start by making the sauce. While that’s cooking you can make the zucchini noodles, and then the riccotta filling. Then you’ll layer it all together and bake. It takes a bit of time to pull it all together but the end results are impressive… and you’ll have leftover lasagna (and sauce) to eat for days!

Sauce Ingredients:

• 3 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 large onion – finely chopped
• 1 large carrot – finely chopped
• 2 celery stalks, finely chopped
• 3 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 10 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1 fat spring of rosemary
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme (or two teaspoons fresh thyme)
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 3/4 pound ground pork
• 3/4 pound ground beef
• 1 slice bacon (I was wild and crazy and used twoz)
• 1 cup red wine
• 1 cup milk
• 3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 (28 oz.) can of diced tomatoes
• 2 cups (loosely packed) basil leaves – shredded

Sauce Directions:

In a big pot, heat the oil and butter (on medium-low heat). Add the onion, carrot, celery, 1 teaspoon salt, and pepper. Stir until soft (about 12-13 minutes). Add the garlic, rosemary, thyme, oregano, and red pepper flakes. Cook for 2 minutes longer. Add the pork, beef, bacon, and one teaspoon salt. Increase heat to medium high and cook (breaking up meat with a wooden spoon) for about 6 minutes. Add the wine and cook until most of the liquid evaporates (about 2 minutes. Add the milk, and then the broth, tomatoes, basil, and remaining teaspoon of salt. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until the sauce thickens and reduces (this should take an hour to an hour and a half). Add more broth if it gets dry (I didn’t have to.)

“Noodles” Directions:

Take 6 large zucchini (find the longest ones you can) and slice them into long 1/4 inch-thick strips. Arrange them on 2 rimmed baking sheets and sprinkle each side with salt. This will let the water come out of the zucchini (leave for about half an hour and you’ll see what I mean.) Pour off the water and pat both sides of the zucchini dry.

Preheat the oven to 425F.

Brush the zucchini with the oil and roast until it loses half  its thickness and some slices are slightly brown. (about 30 minutes). Remove and cool.

Filling Ingredients:

• 1 (15-ounce) container whole-milk ricotta cheese
• 1 3/4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 3/4 cups finely shreaded parmesan cheese
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 1/2 cups (loosely packed) basil leaves, shredded.

Make the Filling:

In a large bowl, combine 1 15 oz. container of whole milk ricotta, 1 cup of mozzarella, 1 cup of parmesan cheese, an egg, red pepper flakes, salt, pepper, and 1/2 cup of the shredded basil.

Make the Lasagna.

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Spread one cup of the sauce on the bottom of a 9×13 inch lasagna pan. Arrange a layer of roasted zucchini on top of the sauce. Top with another cup of sauce, and dot with a cup of the cheese filling. Sprinkle 1/4 cup shredded basil, 1/4 cup of parmesan, and 1/4 cup of mozzarella over that. Repeat the process two more times and then top the lasagna with the extra cheese and bake for 40-45 minutes.

*You should have extra sauce left over! It will keep for a week in the fridge… or longer if you freeze it!