Easy Zucchini Lasagna Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Why is my zucchini lasagna watery? ›

Zucchini releases a lot of water as it cooks. To avoid a watery lasagna, make sure to salt the zucchini slices and let them sit to draw out excess moisture, as mentioned in the recipe instructions. Pat them dry before layering in the lasagna.

Cook your vegetables separately.

It's also important not to overload you vegetable lasagna. Having a proper amount of vegetables will help the lasagna maintain its shape, and will keep everything moist, but not watery. As you're creating layers, don't worry if it looks more sparse than you'd think.

Too much between one layer and another will keep you from ever getting a perfect slice. Too little and all you'll taste is pasta. Do not put large pieces of vegetables or meat in lasagna for the same reason as above. To get a perfect lasagna, the filling should be finely sliced or even creamy.

Salt and drain zucchini

This method involves liberally salting your sliced zucchini and allowing it to set in a colander (over a bowl) for at least 30 minutes, up to an hour, before patting dry with paper towels or a tea towel.

So, to achieve the perfect lasagna, the consistency of the sauce is absolutely essential. Both the ragù and béchamel sauce should be dense and creamy. Avoid sauces that are too liquid and slide to the bottom of the dish. A thicker consistency of the sauce will allow the pasta to be flavoured in the best possible way.

If it has wet veggies, that will make it wet. Roast them first, or squeeze the water out of spinach or zucchini in a towel. Good recipes will tell you to do this (highly recommend Deborah Madison's veg lasagnes). And if you are using a cheese layer, like ricotta, you can/should drain that first too.

One quick idea ( and maybe obvious so I'm just including it here) is to make more layers. You might be surprised as to what one layer can do. Five layers (rather than four) in a pan will make a more compact and solid lasagna.

Acidic ingredients like tomatoes and citrus can react with aluminum (the most common metal used in bakeware), creating a metallic taste in your food. This is why lasagna and other casseroles with acidic ingredients are often baked in glass.

If uncovered, the prolonged exposure to heat will quickly dry out your lasagna, no matter how much sauce you've added. Make sure to always add a layer of tin foil over your baking dish, which will trap the moisture inside while still allowing the dish to cook properly.

The "bigger is better" approach doesn't work well with lasagna. Sure, a good lasagna has layers, but too many layers in an overstuffed pan is a recipe for disaster. Lasagna typically has three or four layers and keeps a consistent ratio between the noodles, sauce, and filling. Too much sauce results in lasagna soup.

How do you cut zucchini for pasta? ›

With a mandoline (large zucchini):

Use a knife to trim off the stem end of the zucchini. Slice the zucchini into noodles with the mandoline. Fit the mandoline with the julienne blade. Gently slide the zucchini lengthwise down the mandoline blade to create long, thin strips.

Watery tomatoes aren't the only culprit for soupy lasagna: Oils from cheese and meat and water from lasagna noodles and vegetables can affect your lasagna's consistency. Draining excess fat from ground beef or sausage before adding it to tomato sauce is imperative to maintain a thick sauce.

A: Soupy lasagna is either a result of wet noodles that were not drained properly or lasagna was layered with too much (thin wet) sauce. While you can make lasagna ahead and refrigerate or freeze it, it won't reduce the moisture content.

**Let it rest**: Allow the lasagna to rest for 10 to 15 minutes after removing it from the oven before slicing and serving. During this time, the lasagna will continue to set, and excess moisture may be absorbed.

Don't overcrowd the pan, which can cause the zucchini to steam instead of roast. Unless you have time to salt and drain the zucchini, wait to salt it until after they're cooked so the salt doesn't draw out the moisture in the oven—this can lead to sogginess.