Zucchini and plantain lasagna

Recipes

Apr 26

Written By

For this recipe, I have combined two lasagna interpretations, which are both delicious. These are zucchini lasagna and pastelón (Puerto Rican lasagna). I love them both and I love mixing up flavors that work well together, and so this recipe was born. This “plantzucchi” lasagna (I just made that up) is out of this world, super tasty and satisfying.We are using plantains and zucchinis' ribbons in place of the traditional pasta sheets for this recipe. Plantains are one of my favorite foods and zucchini complements the sweetness of the plantains really well without making this lasagna overwhelmingly sweet.Ingredients:For the meat sauce:1 lb of ground beef1 tbs of olive oil1 small onion or ½ a big one4-6 cloves of garlic1 small carrot, grated or 3/4 cup2 small cans of tomato puree1 tsp of Worcestershire sauceSalt and pepper to tasteLayers and cheeses:6 zucchinis6 ripe plantains, the darker the skin the better. Buy ahead of time to let them ripe a couple of days before preparing them.Oil for frying the plantains16 ounces Ricotta cheese1 eggParmesan cheese-optionalMozzarella cheese or cheddar cheese to top the lasagna.Preparation.

Start by making the meat sauce. Brown the meat in heated skillet or saucepan with the olive oil. Add the onion, garlic, carrot, salt and pepper, stir well and cook for a couple of minutes. Then add the tomato pure and Worcestershire sauce, stir well until all ingredients are combined, cover, and cook on low heat until the rest of the ingredients are prepared to assemble the lasagna. Check every 10 minutes or so to make sure that it doesn’t dry out, otherwise add some water, stir, cover and keep cooking.
Place the ricotta cheese in a colander to let it release the extra liquid.
Slice the zucchinis into ribbons, brush with oil, add salt and pepper and grill about 3 minutes per side.
Slice the plantain into 5 slices. Fry them in oil until brown on both sides. Tip: Smash the fried plantains a bit using a fork for more of an even layers. This also helps if your plantains are not very ripe and they are a little too firmed after frying.
Add the ricotta cheese to a bowl, add an egg to it, and parmesan cheese if using.
Pre heat the oven to 400F.
Time to assemble the lasagna. Add a couple tablespoons of the meat sauce to the bottom of a rectangular baking dish. Follow with a layer of fried plantain followed by half of meat sauce, spread well. Then add a layer of zucchini and top with half of the ricotta mixture, spread it well. Add another layer of plantains, follow with the rest of the meat, spread well and top it with the rest of the ricotta mixture. Follow with a last layer of zucchini and top with the mozzarella cheese. Pictures below show sequence as well.
Bake on the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Let cool down at least 30 minutes before cutting the lasagna.