This recipe started as a bit of an aside that I filed away from months ago. In a quick 40 second clip on her PBS show, Lidia Bastianich mentioned this recipe of a zucchini and country bread lasagna. My ears perked up, and I filed it away for zucchini season. I could just imagine the sauce-softened bits of bread, with fresh zucchini and cheesy melted goodness in every bite.
My mind immediately went to the leftover sourdough challah that my husband lovingly makes two of every week and wrote the recipe with it in mind. Sauce on the bottom, a layer of challah slices, put together like a puzzle, thin strips of zucchini for the next layer, more sauce, and a hefty sprinkling of mozzarella before adding the next layer of sourdough bread. As soon as zucchini started appearing in the farmers market, it was go time. Reader: It was wonderful! My 10-year-old had seconds and licked the plate clean.
Of course, in the process of writing this, I discovered that Lidia had actually shared the recipe on one of her sites. The big differences with mine are: I didn’t cut my crusts off, I changed the parmesan to mozzarella, and I used a jarred sauce. I baked mine in my toaster oven during one of our heat waves a few weeks ago. None of these are deal breakers when it comes to this recipe. I’ve gladly added it to my zucchini recipe file and will be making this one as long as it’s in season. And yes, this can totally be made with a pre-baked or sauteed eggplant.
Zucchini and Country Bread Lasagna (adapted from ‘Lidia’s Family Table’)
Ingredients:
For the zucchini:
2 pounds firm, unblemished zucchini
Half teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
For assembling the lasagna:
2 tablespoons soft butter, for the baking pan
12 or so day-old slices of country bread (from a 1 to 1 half pound loaf)
6 cups tomato sauce
2 cups grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Grana Padano or mozzarella
Directions:
Rinse and dry the zucchini, slice off the stem and trim the blossom end. With a sharp long bladed knife (or a mandoline if you have one) cut very thin lengthwise slices, about 1/8- inch thick. Put them in a large bowl, sprinkle over the 1/2 teaspoon of salt and the 2 tablespoons of oil and toss to coat the slices with the seasonings.
Assembling the lasagna: Arrange a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 400F degrees. Cut the crusts off the bread slices. If they are soft and fresh, you can dry them briefly in the oven but don’t let them get crisp or brown. Butter the bottom and sides of the baking pan generously.
Spread a cup of the tomato sauce in a thin layer in the bottom of the pan. Cover the bottom with a single layer of bread slices. Trim the slices and cut them in pieces so they fit close together and lie flat (but you don’t have to fill every small crack or hole). Spoon about 2 cups of sauce onto the bread and spread it evenly. Make a layer of zucchini, using half the slices. You can lay them crosswise or lengthwise in the pan, whichever way fits best. Overlap the slices as necessary to make an even layer that completely covers the sauce. Press down gently to condense the lasagna and make more room in the pan, then sprinkle 1 cup of grated cheese evenly over the top.
Now repeat the layering: Arrange another layer of bread slices and trimmed pieces. Cover the bread with 2 more cups of sauce, spread evenly. Lay out the rest of the zucchini slices in an overlapping layer. Spread the remaining tomato sauce, about a cup, in a thin layer. Sprinkle another cup of cheese (or more!) in a generous layer over the top of the lasagna.
Baking the lasagna: Cut a sheet of aluminum foil about 2 feet long — preferably from a wide roll of heavy duty foil. Press the foil so it hugs the sides of the pan and bend it to make a “tent” over the lasagna that doesn’t touch the surface anywhere. Bake the lasagna covered for about 45 minutes, giving the zucchini plenty of time to cook. Remove the pan from the oven and carefully unfold the foil from the sides of the pan and lift it off completely. Don’t get burned by the pan or the steam that is released — keep your face and hands out of the way. And don’t let the foil mess up the cheesy topping! (In a glass casserole, you should be able to see the sauce bubbling up around the sides of the pan.)
Return the lasagna to the oven and bake for another 15 to 20 minutes, or until the top is deep golden-brown. Let the casserole settle for a few minutes before serving (it will stay hot for some time). Cut in squares or rectangles of whatever size you like and lift out individual pieces with an angled spatula.
Molly Parr lives in Florence with her husband and two young daughters. She’s been writing her food blog, Cheap Beets, since 2010. Send questions or comments to molly.parr@gmail.com.