This easy zucchini ricotta bake is reminiscent of a hearty lasagna without the noodles or all the work!
Have we talked about the recent infestation of pantry moths I dealt with?
No, I don’t think we have. Unless you heard some screaming last Friday afternoon coming from a kitchen in NY.
Guys, omg guys, it was so freakin’ disgusting.
There I am about to grab something for lunch when I open the one cabinet we keep some nuts and grains in that we use frequently (instead of everything else that resides in the pantry) and I see a tiny worm crawling up the inside of the cabinet.
Ok gross, I think and grab a paper towel to deal with it.
Then I see another, and another, and holy shit, they’re on the glass container of the cashews and the almonds and INSIDE THE EFFIN’ millet.
Shit = officially lost at this point.
See I’ve already dealt with an infestation before.
Last year actually at this very same time, saw tooth beetles took up residence in the brown rice I had purchased from the bulk bins and literally invaded my entire pantry.
I don’t get it.
This kind of stuff should be happening to those slobs on hoarders, not me.
My house is clean.
I have a dog I’m allergic to and therefore literally vacuum and dust and clean like every other damn day. How do I end up with beetles and now worms/moths?! Why???????
So I freaked, threw out at least $100 worth of food in containers infested with worms, threw every glass jar in my cabinet in the sink with loads of bleach and spent 2 hours bleaching, disinfecting, vacuuming and stalking out worms in the crevices of my kitchen.
I still haven’t been able to close the cabinet doors where they were and will randomly walk by, get up on a chair and inspect every inch of the cabinet for ones that might’ve eluded me the first time around.
It was so repulsive.
So, I’m off grains for awhile.
1. I‘m never buying from bulk bins again as I know the beetles came from there and I’m pretty sure these moths/worms did as well and 2. I hear they can even be in packaged/store bought grains as well.
I don’t even want to think about how many of these disgusting little things I inadvertently consumed and I refuse to ever deal with this again.
So…no grains for now until the disgustingness of this whole situation wears off.
If time heals all wounds, it better buck up and heal all worm infested memories too because there’s only so long I can go without a big bowl of mac ‘n cheese.
And I swear this sort of relates to the zucchini ricotta bake I’m shoving in your face today.
How?
Well, when trying to figure out what the heck to call this thing the best descriptor that kept coming to mind was lasagna.
This is completely like a vegetarian lasagna. Just minus the noodles (And subsequently, any disgusting grain infestations that may occur.)
It’s got all the saucy deliciousness of lasagna and those creamy dollops of ricotta that permeate throughout.
It’s perfect really for anyone who wants the comfort food vibe of lasagna without the work of the classic recipe. Who knew zucchini, ricotta and marinara sauce could be so good?
I think I’ll take my lasagna noodleless for now.
Ricotta lemon pasta is another great recipe for this time of year and you could easily add zucchini to it as well!
Feel free to make this with any kind of summer squash you have on hand.
Round zucchini will work just fine too, they taste the same and are the perfect shape for slicing and layering into this zucchini ricotta bake!
Try these other zucchini recipes too:
Cheesy Zucchini Bread, Bruschetta Hummus Stuffed Zucchini, Zucchini Noodles with Sausage, Cherries and Ricotta and Thai Chicken Zucchini Noodles are all great summer recipes too!
Zucchini Ricotta Bake
Ingredients
- 1 large zucchini, sliced into rounds about 1/8 inch thick
- 1/4 cup breadcrumbs
- 1/4 cup almond meal/flour
- salt & pepper
- 3 eggwhites or cooking spray of choice
- 1 cup ricotta
- 1 cup tomato sauce, this 20 minute sauce is a great option!
- basil for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Pour the breadcrumbs and almond meal into a shallow dish and add salt & pepper to taste, mix until combined.
- If using the eggwhite, dip the zucchini rounds in the eggwhite and then coat in the breadcrumb mixture. If using cooking spray, spray both sides of the zucchini and then coat in the breadcrumb mixture.
- Place the zucchini rounds on a foil lined baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes, flipping once half way through.
- Remove zucchini from the oven, spray an 8×8 (or similar size) baking dish with cooking spray and cover the bottom with a layer of the baked zucchini rounds.
- Add dollops of ricotta over the zucchini and then pour sauce over the entire layer of zucchini,
- Repeat the layering process until the zucchini are gone.
- Bake in the 400 degree oven for another 10 minutes.
- Remove, garnish with basil and serve warm.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Gina Matsoukas is an AP syndicated writer. She is the founder, photographer and recipe developer of Running to the Kitchen — a food website focused on providing healthy, wholesome recipes using fresh and seasonal ingredients. Her work has been featured in numerous media outlets both digital and print, including MSN, Huffington post, Buzzfeed, Women’s Health and Food Network.
Ugg, I experienced that a time or two before I gave up grains. Nasty and my husband was the one screaming his head off when he saw them, not me, lol. You could always throw the stuff you buy bulk in the freezer and then you won’t have to worry about this.
The moth infestation sounds horrible! I mom had that happen in her pantry and it was awful to clean out. On the positive side, your recipe looks delicious! I make something similar, but with fresh tomatoes and Parmesan cheese.
By the way, I love your blog and all of your recipes look wonderful!
Thanks, Melissa :)
This looks incredible! I have heard of infestation problems, but fortunately never had them myself. So I will continue to not think about it :) However I do avoid bulk bins for other reasons… like salad bars… the things I’ve seen people do (shudder).
be sure to check your flour. that’s where I found my infestation.
Gina,
I know what you’re talking about. I shop regularly at warehouses, so I had the same problem. I keep my nuts and most of my flours in the freezer, or, at the very least, freeze them for at least 48 hours. I have purchased moth traps from King Arthur Flour that work well.
I can’t wait to try this recipe. It sounds delicious!
I’ve had one infestation before, but not sure it was from bulk bins. I will certainly keep that in mind if I think about buying from bulk bins. I don’t do that often because it’s a long drive to the health food store. One thing we did was to take our staples out of the kitchen cabinets and keep them on open shelves. We also don’t lay in large supplies of anything, and I go through our pantry somewhat regularly and check things – when I clean. Since we made those changes we have not had any infestation problems. I hope your clean-up really got rid of all those critters. Even as one who is very interested in insects most of the time, it gets me when they get in my food supply.
This recipe sounds great; I’ll put it on my ever-growing list of things to try.
:-)
As much as your infestation sounds GROSS, It lead to something that looks soooo yummy! Not to mention gorgeous. Yum!
Ugh! Sorry to hear about the infestation. We had a mouse once and it freaked me out. I can’t imagine an infestation!
Nevertheless, your eggplant bake looks yummy!