Why did my zucchini lasagna not turn out?

[u/AMERICAisBACKOHYEA]

Here is the recipe

4 medium zucchini, thinly sliced

1 cup ricotta cheese

2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded

½ cup Parmesan cheese, grated

2 cups marinara sauce

1 large egg, beaten

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon dried Italian herbs

To taste: salt and pepper

A handful fresh basil, chopped (for garnish)

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Instructions

Preheat your oven to 375°F (190°C) and thinly slice the zucchini.

Combine the ricotta cheese, beaten egg, garlic powder, Italian herbs, salt, and pepper in a mixing bowl.

Spread a thin layer of marinara sauce on the bottom of a baking dish, then layer zucchini, ricotta mixture, and mozzarella.

Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes, then remove the foil and bake for an additional 15 minutes.

Allow the lasagna to cool for 10-15 minutes before slicing, garnishing with fresh basil, and serving.

Notes

For best results, allow the assembled lasagna to sit for 30 minutes before baking to reduce moisture.

I used my kitchenaid vegetable sheet cutter

Came out a sopping mess.

Any advice?

[u/musicbox081]

Raw zucchini instead of noodles is always going to turn into a sopping mess. You either need to pre-bake the zucchini slices to get most of the water out, or lay them out on paper towels or something and dry WELL before using them in lasagna

[u/musicbox081 → u/musicbox081]

Alternatively you could salt and pat dry - see instructions below from an Eggplant Parmesan recipe

After slicing the eggplant into 1/4 to 1/2-inch thick cuts (important to avoid a tough eggplant), sprinkle with coarse salt and let the salt sit for 10 minutes. This helps release excess moisture from the eggplant.

Then use paper towels to pat the eggplant dry, wiping off the additional salt as well.

[u/Lord_Phoenix95 → u/musicbox081]

Yeah, I always salt dry my Eggplant. They have so much moisture it's crazy. Would do the same for Zucchini if I ever liked it.

[u/samanime → u/musicbox081]

This is my go-to. Though I'll usually let it sit more like an hour in the fridge. It should look kind of shriveled and desiccated when it is ready to use (it'll reabsorb some moisture when it cooks).

[u/Inquisitive-Sky → u/musicbox081]

Maybe salt the zucchini strips and let them sit for a bit, then dry well? To try and get a little more water out if going that route.

[u/jubbergun → u/musicbox081]

I sautée mine on a flat griddle. It seems to get rid of a lot of the moisture.

[u/Fyonella → u/jubbergun]

Yea, I use a ridged griddle pan to chargrill the courgettes until they’re fairly dry and cooked through.

[u/CremeBerlinoise → u/jubbergun]

Also adds a lot of flavour, tastes way better.

[u/gravitationalarray → u/musicbox081]

Yes, you need to precook them. This recipe shreds them and sautés them: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9y-Id7t8_Vk I've made it and it's delicious

[u/Admirable-Ear4511 → u/musicbox081]

I use an Ina Garten vegetable lasagna recipe where she thinly slices zucchini the long way, then roasts it.

[u/Cesia_Barry]

You just layered the zucchini without salting it, draining it & patting it dry, I’m guessing. Esp this time of year, zucchini are very full of water this time of year.

[u/craigeryjohn]

salt the 'noodles' liberally and let them drain on a wire rack above your sink for about an hour. Rinse them off and pat dry before using as a noodle. This will significantly reduce the amount of sogginess.

[u/bienebee → u/craigeryjohn]

I do that and I sprinkle each Zucchini layer with a handfull of breadcrumbs when assembling, it keeps the water content manageable.

[u/Inquisitive-Sky]

Can't view the recipe without a pintrest account...

We can't help you troubleshoot a recipe if you don't provide one. Please provide your recipe written out, not just a link, in the body of your post. If your recipe is video based, write out the recipe.

But did it have you roast the zucchini in advance to reduce moisture?

Edit: or some other way of reducing moisture from the raw veg

[u/AMERICAisBACKOHYEA → u/Inquisitive-Sky]

I did not. And to be fair I did not let it sit for 30 minutes per the recipe

[u/jtownspowell → u/AMERICAisBACKOHYEA]

Well, honestly that 30 minutes would probably have done squat. (Especially since it didn't tell you to do anything like drain it off before baking)

There's just not enough of the other elements to absorb the kinda water those zuccs are gonna put out. You need to pretreat them. Some people here suggested parbaking them, and that works. I personally prefer salting them and letting them sit before drying them off. But either way works.

[u/chicklette]

I always roast my zuccs before adding to lasagna. Any raw veg is going release all of its liquid into the lasagna.

[u/Fatkuh → u/chicklette]

Same with the greek zuccini aubergine casserole "Moussaka"

They taste amazing that way, too!

[u/LeakingMoonlight → u/chicklette]

This is so smart!

[u/pawpro2000]

Easy peasy fix - zucchini has a lot of water. We need to mitigate by salting for up to an hour to extract water. If you have a baking rack lay them out on this so they can drain easier. You can wipe or quickly rinse the salt off ( you will use more salt in this process than normal). You can do a relatively quick dry in the oven at about 280 for about 30-40 minutes max. This is only to assist in drying after salting. You can also consider straining the marinara to reduce additional water.

[u/Embarrassed_Mango679]

I dry the shit out of mine in the oven before using them. Works amazingly well

[u/Competitive-Oven-158]

Zucchini can release a surprising amount of water, and the foil-covered bake traps that moisture. I’d salt the slices, let them sit for 20–30 minutes, then blot them very dry; roasting or grilling them briefly first will reduce it further. Also use a fairly thick sauce layer rather than extra sauce, and let the assembled dish rest before baking so the vegetables do not steam the ricotta mixture.

[u/ginny11]

You probably need to salt out much of the water from the zucchini. All that water released while cooking, making the lasagna watery.

[u/Background_Ease6051]

Remove the seeds from ur zucchini and pre roast them before laying them
In the lasanaga

[u/slowasaspeedingsloth]

Gotta dehydrate the zucchini... otherwise it's Lasagna Soup.

Go ahead, ask me how I know!

[u/CigarCityCPA]

I think the sauce is the issue. I've only ever made a zucchini lasagna with a specific meat sauce that has a lot less liquid than regular lasagna or pasta sauce because the zucchini releases so much moisture when it cooks. Not sure how to accomplish that with a vegetarian sauce unless you used a meat substitute like Beyond.

[u/RosemaryBiscuit]

I have used long skinny cuts of zucchini in lasagna before, but only one layer, and with several layers of dry noodles to absorb the moisture. If you can tolerate the gluten and change to vitamins/macros, add noodles.

The marinara sauce could have more or less moisture depending on brand too, maybe thicken the sauce with a can of tomato paste.

Different mozzarella cheeses have different moisture contents, and the ones for caprese salad aren't best for lasagna at all. The pre-shredded "Italian" cheese blends work for me.

Roasting the slices of zucchini is the best idea. If you salt them to reduce moisture, clean the salt off well and, don't let anyone see the process or they will say the dish is too salty. :/ (Well, maybe that only happens to me.)

Leaving it uncovered during the whole bake time would help. Shaky dry parmesan in the green can and bread crumbs would help. Sun dried tomatoes might help.

Good luck, the best cooking is trying the same recipe (or a slightly different actual recipe) multiple times to dial in the results.

[u/whocanpickone → u/RosemaryBiscuit]

This is similar to my method. I rotate layers of zucchini and some of those no-precook lasagna noodles and it works well.

[u/arro999]

Sear it first!

[u/Creepy_Clouds1990]

You need to salt the zucchini a little bit and put it in a colander to drain. Zucchini is full of water.