Italian Sausage and Zucchini Bake
1 Tbl olive oil
3/4 lb of loose Italian sausage. You can use hot or mild.
1/4 cup of chopped onion
1 tsp of Italian blend spice
1/4 tsp of grated sea salt
1/4 tsp of grated pepper
2 cups of spaghetti sauce. Find a jarred one with no sugar. Rao’s is a good brand.
1 large egg, beaten
1 cup of ricotta cheese
3 cups of zucchini chunks. I cut mine into about 2” long chunks that are about 1/2-inch wide.
1 cup of grated or shredded mozzarella cheese (or more to taste)
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
In a medium saute pan add the olive oil and heat it. Add the loose Italian sausage and cook on medium-high. Break it up regularly so you get bite-sized pieces or smaller. When it’s half cooked, add the onion and the Italian spice blend. Cook until meat is completely done. Season with salt and pepper. Add the spaghetti sauce and stir.
While the meat is cooking you can combine the beaten egg with the ricotta cheese in a small bowl.
Spray a nine by nine inch ovenproof baking pan with olive oil spray. Cover the bottom of the pan with half of the meat sauce. Scatter on your zucchini chunks and sort of poke them into the sauce. Add your ricotta mixture in blobs with a spoon. Just scatter those over the zucchini and sauce. Top with the other half of the meat sauce and then cover it with mozzarella.
Bake for 30 minutes. Take out of the oven and add extra mozzarella to the top if you want it extra gooey. Wait about five before serving. I just use a large spoon to serve this in dinner bowls.
Enjoy!
Cheers,
Zola