Thursday, September 17, 2009

Zucchini Lasagna

My parents didnt grow or buy zucchini. I dont think i ever tasted zucchini until well into my 20's. But they are everywhere! So, what to do? I figured why not lasagna! And thank goodness gigi is so sharp because this was delicious! Sadly, i dont have a picture, but no worries, you can do it without one.

1 large or 2 small zucchini - sliced lengthwise (i did this the day before. You can even do it 2 days before...)
1 cloves of garlic - or 2 tsp already minced from a jar
1 pound ground turkey
1.5 jars of marinara sauce
1 16 oz container fat free ricotta cheese
1 egg beaten
1 tsp dry parsley
1 tbs dry italian seasoning
2 cups shredded mozerella cheese



Directions:

Grill the zucchini until it is semi-soft - i used a George Forman

Step 1.
fry the minced garlic for just about a minute,
add and Brown the turkey
To the browned turkey add the marinara sauce.

In the meantime:
Combine 1 cup mozerella
Ricotta cheese
1 beaten egg
2 tsp italian seasoning
1 tsp parsley
dash of pepper



Cover the bottom of the casserole dish with a thin layer of the sauce mixture
layer zucchini slices to cover the bottom of dish
spoon and smooth the cheese filling on top of the zucchini
cover with a layer of sauce
Repeat until you are out of ingrediants ending with sauce
Sprinkle the remaining mozerella cheese on top of the dish.

Bake for 55 minutes at 350 degrees.


Serve and bask in your beautiful glory as you have just made another awsomely fabulous meal and nobody will ever know that it took you no time at all :)

smooches! gigi

Friday, September 11, 2009

Yummy Cakey Chocolatey Zucchini Cookies from Heaven!


How much zucchine bread can one person make? I decided to mix things up a bit, in true gigi fashion. I found an awsome recipe for a double chocolate cake zucchini cookie and decided to give it a try. Man, oh man, these were GOOOOOOOOD! They were good when i made them, but trust me they are WAAAY better the next day and the following days after!

I had a huge zucchini so i doubled the recipe. After i squeezed the juice out of the zucchini, i came out with about 2.5 cups, instead of 3 cups for the double recipe, but it was more than enough.

Ok. make these. now!

Cakey Chocolate Zucchini Cookies
Ingredients-

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup white organic sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 organic free-range egg
2 1/3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 1/2 cups zucchini, shredded on the small holes of a grater; drained and pressed
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

DirectionsPreheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Beat the butter and sugars in a large bowl with a (hand) mixer.
Beat in egg.
Sift together flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt in a separate bowl.
Gradually stir into the wet ingredients.
Fold in zucchini, then stir in chocolate chips.
Line baking sheets with parchment paper, and drop tablespoons of dough onto the tray (dough will be sticky).

Bake for 9-11 minutes in a preheated oven.
Remove from oven, cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes, then serve!
Store in a tupperware container to keep the cookies extra moist.

Go ahead and pass these out to your favorite neighbor(s), your co-workers, friends and your sweetheart. You are bound, yet again, to be the belle of the ball!!!!!!!

Smooches ***gigi