My Mom made lasagna at least once a week when I was growing up. I love lasagna, like REALLY REALLY LOVE lasagna. But I can’t remember the last time I prepared it myself.

Since committing to a healthy lifestyle years ago, many of my childhood favorites just didn’t make the cut (like lasagna and stuffed shells and baked ziti). Can you tell I grew up in Jersey?

A few weeks ago, I decided to experiment until I came up with a healthier version of Mom’s cheesy, noodley dish.

Swapping out the lasagna noodles for zucchini, cutting way back on the cheese and adding spinach and ground chicken did the trick.

Zucchini Lasagna with Spinach and Chicken

Ingredients:

4-6 zucchini, sliced lengthwise about 1/4-inch thick or less

1 jar low sugar tomato sauce (I’m a big fan of Monte Bene Tomato Basil Sauce)

container of fresh baby spinach

16 oz cottage or ricotta cheese (I like ricotta for this recipe, but tend to use a little less – like 10 oz – to shave off some calories)

1/4 – 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1 pound ground chicken

1 egg

1/2 tsp dried basil

ground pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Cook the ground chicken in a frying pan with a touch of oil until no longer pink

2. Mix together the cottage or ricotta cheese, egg, basil and a little ground pepper

3. Slice zucchini about 1/4-inch thick or less (I used my handy mandolin slicer)

4. (Optional) The zucchini adds quite a bit of moisture (= watery lasagna), so I sprinkled mine with kosher salt and let ’em sit out on paper towels for about 10 minutes. The water will bead up and then you can pat them dry. Another option is to bake the slices in the oven to dry them out a bit (425 degrees for 5-10 minutes) before assembling your lasagna.

5. Lightly coat the bottom of a glass or ceramic rectangular lasagna dish with spray oil (or a little sauce), and then create the following layers:

a. 1/3 of the zucchini slices

b. 1/2 – 1 cup sauce (depending on how much sauce you like)

c. 1/2 of the cooked ground chicken

d. 1/2 cheese mixture (I just dollop it on instead of trying to spread it evenly)

e. few handfuls of baby spinach

f. 1/3 of the zucchini slices

g. 1/2 – 1 cup sauce

h. 1/2 of the cooked ground chicken

i. 1/2 cheese mixture

j. few handfuls of baby spinach

k. remaining zucchini slices

l. 1/2 cup sauce

m. 1/4 cup shredded mozzarella and a sprinkle of dried basil

Cover with foil and bake at 350-degrees for 45 minutes, remove the foil and cook for another 15 minutes and voila – a healthy, veggie packed lasagna.

Tip:

Coat the foil with spray oil so the cheese doesn’t stick to it.

Eat clean and prosper.