I love preparing for my live cooking segments and being a part of this incredible “CT Style” family on WTNH Channel 8! It’s wonderful cooking with Teresa Dufour and Sarah Cody, so natural and as always we are full of giggles and everything seems to fall into place. All my spooky food decorations from the ghost face on the lasagna, bloody almond sugar cookie fingers, spiderweb Boston Cream Pie top, and the homemade guacamole coming out of the carved pumkin came together with the smoky dry ice effect.

Having a holiday to base my theme on totally helps you to get creative with the food. I wanted to show you how to serve some healthy dishes for this holiday on CT Style and still keep a spooky allure to it. Zucchini lasagna came to mind! I used a gluten-free flour to make the bechamel and substituted the pasta sheets with zucchini strips. The most important task here is to extract as much moisture out of the zucchini as possible so it’s not watery in the end. You can see how I do this in the written recipe below. Hope you enjoy the show and have a Happy Halloween!

Here are some other dishes you could make for halloween like my Spooky Chocolate Cake, Eilieen’s Famous Chocolate Chip Cookies, Chic Pea Guacamole, My Guacamole (featured on CT Style), Or My Homemade Salsa 101!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ingredients:

• 9 x 13 x 3 baking dish
• 4 lg zucchini sliced 1/4″ thick
• 1/2 c. Emmental cheese shredded
• 3 cups shredded mozzarella
• 8 oz. ground turkey
• 8 oz. ground Italian fennel sausage
• 2 lb. whole milk ricotta, “Fina Style” from Liuzzi Cheese
• 1 28 oz. can whole peeled tomatoes (I like Cento)
• 3/4 c. finely diced sweet onions (1/2 c. for the meat sauce, 1/4 c. for the béchamel sauce)
• 2 lg garlic cloves, grated
• 1/4 red wine
• 1 tsp ground Italian seasonings
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt (1/2 for meat sauce and 1/2 for béchamel sauce)
• 1/2 tsp finely ground pepper (1/4 for meat sauce and 1/4 for béchamel)
• 1 c. fresh basil, 1/2 c. julienne for 1 lasagna layer, and 4 whole leaves for meat sauce
• 2 1/2 cups milk
• 3 tbsp. butter
• 3 tbsp. rice flour
• pinch nutmeg

Directions:

1. Slice Zucchini lengthwise on a mandolin to 3/16″ thick
2. Lay zucchini strips on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper
3. Lightly salt zucchini strips and let sit for 30 minutes
4. Pat dry with paper towels all the water that renders out of the zucchini strips
5. Put zucchini into a 375º oven for 10 minutes, take out to pat dry and flip over, then bake 10 minutes more, take out and pat dry again
6. Then move zucchini strips to a platter lined with paper towels and let cool
7. Make the meat sauce: add turkey, sausage and 1/2 c. chopped onion to sauté pan with 1 tbsp. olive oil and cooked until browned
8. Add in grated garlic cloves and de-glaze with 1/4 cup red wine
9. Add 1 can of chopped up whole peeled tomatoes, 4 fresh basil leaves (remove this after simmering) Italian seasonings, salt/pepper and sugar and bring to a simmer for 30 minutes
10. Make the Béchamel Sauce: Start with a Roux…Melt 3 tbsp. butter in a sauté pan on medium heat and add in 3 tbsp. Rice flour, keep whisking to get a smooth consistency
11. While whisking, heat thru to cook out raw flour taste 2 minutes, but do not brown roux
12. Add in 1/4 c milk to start while continuously whisking so as to not develop lumps
13. Then add in another 1/2 cup of  milk while whisking and lastly whisk in the final 1 1/2 cups of milk
14. Simmer this mixture for 15 minutes making sure to keep whisking every few minutes so as not to get a thick coating that could burn on the bottom of the pan
15. You want a very thick consistency thru out when done, set aside and let cool to get thicker
16. Begin to layer the lasagna adding approx 3/4 c. meat sauce to the bottom of the bake dish
17. Lay down strips of zucchini going all the way across the dish
18. Next layer, add spoonful’s of ricotta every couple of inches onto top of zucchini strips
19. Add spoonful’s of béchamel every few inches in between ricotta
20. Next, sprinkle on 1/2 c. mozzarella, 1/4 c. Swiss and julienned basil (basil for this layer only)
21. Next, spoon 3/4  c. meat sauce
22. Then add zucchini strips again and 2x repeat steps 17-20
23. The last, top layer add ricotta, béchamel, meat sauce and save the mozzarella for the top
24. Place baking dish on cookie tray and bake on 375º for approx. 50 minutes, if the top get too brown cover with foil
25. Take out zucchini lasagna and let sit for 30 minutes for moisture to evaporate, slice and garnish with grated cheese and basil…mmm!