Perfect for Summer

My mother has had a great zucchini yield so far this summer.  I took two very large zucchini off her hands.  I really love zucchini.

I got to use the zucchini in a few recipes that I have been wanting to try for a long time.  I already posted this great zucchini pasta recipe. The second recipe that I used the zucchini for was a yummy no-bake lasagna recipe.  I had seen it in my Everyday Food magazine two summers ago and thought it looked both delicious and beautiful...but I didn't get an opportunity to make it then.  But when those lovely zucchini were given to me, I knew I needed to try this recipe.  It sounds so simple, but the flavors together were absolutely wonderful.  I would even suggest that it would work great tossed with any favorite pasta (penne, rigatoni, spaghetti, linguine, etc.--I'll expound on that in the recipe notes).

I hope you like it!

No-Bake Summer Lasagna

Ingredients:

1/2 cup ricotta
3 tablespoons grated Parmesan
3 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
coarse salt and ground pepper
8 lasagna noodles, broken in half crosswise
1 small garlic clove, minced
2 pints grape tomatoes, halved
2 zucchini (about 1 pound total), halved if large and thinly sliced
1 tablespoon torn fresh basil leaves, plus more for serving

Directions:

In a small bowl, combine ricotta, Parmesan, and 2 teaspoons oil; season with salt and pepper.  In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook noodles according to package instructions; drain.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons oil over medium-high.  Add garlic and tomatoes; season with salt and pepper.  Cook, stirring, until slightly broken down, about 3 minutes.  Transfer tomatoes to a bowl.  Add 1 tablespoon oil and zucchini to skillet; season with salt and pepper.  Cook, stirring, until zucchini are tender, about 5 minutes.  Transfer to another bowl and stir in basil.

Place some tomatoes on four plates; top with a noodle and small spoonfuls ricotta, zucchini, and more tomatoes.  Repeat layering twice, then top with remaining noodles and tomatoes.  Garnish with basil.

Source: Everyday Food recipe, June 2010, found here.

Notes: I cooked the noodles whole and used kitchen shears to cut each lasagna noodle into thirds.  I also probably used a little more ricotta than 1/2 cup.

The garlic, grape tomatoes, and zucchini were such a flavorful combination.  If you don't want to make this as a lasagna, I would suggest following the instructions for making the ricotta mixture and cooking the garlic/tomatoes and zucchini.  Cook whatever kind of pasta you want, according to package directions (penne, rigatoni, campanelle, spaghetti, linguine, etc. would all work with this).  Place pasta in a large bowl and top with tomato/garlic mixture and zucchini/basil mixture.  Toss to combine.  Place on serving plates and top with a dollop of the ricotta mixture.  Yum!

Above: I finally tried it.  And yes, the lasagna easily converts to a tossed pasta.  I used rigatoni here, but penne, campanelle, bow ties, shells, etc. would also work.