...my heart skips a beat.

I know, I keep turning to Kalyn for my dinner plans. You have to understand, this blog has soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo many excellent recipes for South Beach.

Here is the link to the original post: http://www.kalynskitchen.com/2008/09/grilled-zucchini-lasagna-with-italian.html

Grilled Zucchini "Lasagna" with Italian Sausage, Tomato, and Basil Sauce
(Makes about 8 servings, recipe created by Kalyn.)
Equipment:

It's important to use a dish that's fairly deep for this recipe.  The first time I made this I used a dish that was 9" x 11" and 3" deep.  This time I used my new lasagna pan that was 12.5" x 10" and 3" deep.  I increased the amount of cottage cheese and used one more egg in the recipe shown below for the larger size pan, but the other ingredients were the same.)

Ingredients:
2-3 large zucchini, cut into lengthwise or round slices about 5/8 inch thick (enough zucchini slices to make two layers, be careful not to cut too thin)
olive oil, for brushing lasagna slices
4 cups your favorite tomato-basil pasta sauce with sausage, simmered to reduce to 3 cups
2 cups low-fat cottage cheese (or use 1 1/2 cups for smaller dish size)
4 eggs (or use 3 eggs for smaller dish size)
2 cups grated low-fat Mozzarella cheese
1 cup coarsely grated Romano or Parmesan cheese
(or use about 3 cups of any type of white cheese that melts well)
Instructions: 

Preheat oven to 400F.  Brush grill with olive oil or spray with grill spray and preheat to high heat. (You can only hold your hand there for a few seconds at that heat.) While grill heats, cut zucchini into slices about 5/8 inch thick. Brush both sides of zucchini lightly with olive oil.  Grill zucchini slices until they're lightly browned on both sides, but not fully cooked, about 5 minutes per side.  (You can do this on a stove-top grill pan if you don't have an outdoor grill.) Remove the zucchini slices to a cutting board and press lightly with a paper towel to absorb some of the moisture.

While the zucchini cooks, simmer the sauce to reduce it to about 3 cups.  Beat eggs in small bowl, then stir in cottage cheese.
Spray heavy ceramic or glass lasagna dish with non-stick spray or olive oil.  Then make a layer of lasagna slices, a layer with half the sauce, a layer with half the cottage cheese-egg mixture, and a layer with half the cheese. Top with second layer of grilled lasagna slices, sauce, cottage cheese-egg mixture, and remaining cheese.
Bake about 45 minutes, or until cheese is melted and browned on top and mixture is slightly bubbling. (I hate to cover it with foil because the cheese always sticks to the foil, but you can cover it for part of the time if you don't want the top quite so brown.) Let sit at least 10-15 minutes before cutting, then cut into pieces and serve hot.  (This will be a little juicier than regular lasagna, letting it sit for a few minutes will help with that.)
This keeps very well in the fridge for several days and it might even be better re-heated, because some of the juice absorbs into the zucchini when it's refrigerated!  I would not recommend freezing.

This dish made me really excited as I love cheesey lasagna-ness and not-not having to give it during the diet makes me even more excited. It turned out well enough. While it is clearly not proper 7 layer deliciousness, it is a viable substitute.

I needed to cut the zucchini more evenly and thicker. Aka In eed a mandillion cutty thing. Husband and I both enjoyed it, though I jazzed it up with herbs in the egg and cheese mixture. 

Until the next meal...

**Today's title comes from Gwyneth Paltrow: When I pass a flowering zucchini plant in a garden, my heart skips a beat.**