Zucchini is like the insurance of the garden. If you're going to be successful with one vegetable, it's going to be zucchini. They're easy to grow, and they're great producers. By the end of the season you'll have so many zucchinis you won't even be able to give them away. But at least you won't go hungry.

I eat gluten free and avoiding wheat means getting creative with recipes. I enjoy when recipes not only exclude wheat but their refined counterparts too. Don't get me wrong, I love a good noodle, but sometimes it's nice to reduce the carbs and turn up the veggies, you know what I mean?

This is a medieval vegetable torture device called a spiralizer. It takes your veggies and makes noodles out of them, and it's wonderful.

One of my favourite Paleo cookbooks has a lasagna recipe that uses sliced zucchini in place of noodles. While this dish is a tasty, I found the process to be tedious and the end result a little on the soupy side. The recipe requires using a mandolin to slice the zucchini, (@generikat I'm lookin' at you!) then lay them out on cookie racks and sprinkle with salt to extract the moisture. Then, before using the zucchini noodles, you have to pat them dry which is time consuming and still doesn't seem to be enough to escape the dreaded soup factor.

Matt suggested dehydrating the zucchini strips so they can rehydrate with the tomato juice during the cooking process. This idea is sheer genius, but then I would need to find the time to dehydrate the zucchini. I think I will add that to my one day list though because I really do think it's ingenious.

Additionally, the recipe calls for Italian pork sausage, which is delicious but also expensive if you're trying to find one with quality ingredients that also excludes wheat filler. Let's face it, I want to eat well without going broke. To achieve the same flavour and stay on budget I opt to buy plain ground meat and season it to taste like pork sausage instead. And if you try this recipe don't leave out the fennel powder, I swear it's the secret spice to really hitting that Italian sausage profile.

I typically follow recipes verbatim but in the last few years I've dared to stretch my spatulas and begin experimenting and tweaking a little more in the kitchen. We tried a few different methods of making this lasagna but when we couldn't escape the extra moist meat and chewy noodles we decided to turn it into a soup. The idea worked well but I still wasn't satisfied.

On the left is what remains of the zucchini after it's been... well... spiralized.

Enter the spiralizer! Matt's mom (Hi Linda!) introduced us to the spiralizer through a few meals. She's made a few delicious dishes including a spiralized zucchini salad which is essentially raw zucchini noodles in a bowl with homemade dressing. It's simple and scrumptious! So I decided to make my own zucchini noodles for a lasagna / spaghetti hybrid recipe. It's Spagana, it's Lasaghetti, it's Lazy Lasagna!

But enough of my rambling and on to the recipe!

Ingredients

• 4 Medium Zucchini, spiralized
• 1 Small Onion, diced
• 4 Cloves Garlic, minced
• 2 Tbsp Cooking Fat
• 1lb. Ground Beef
• 1lb. Ground Pork
• 2 Tbsp. Oregano
• 2 1/2 Tbsp. Dried Basil (or 1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped)
• 1/2 tsp. Black Pepper
• 1/4 - 1/2 tsp. Cayenne Pepper (optional)
• 1 tsp. Fine Sea Salt
• 1 tsp. Fennel Seed Powder
• 1/2 tsp. Hot Pepper Flakes
• 1 Tbsp. Paprika
• 1 tsp. Garlic Powder
• 1 14 oz. Can Diced Tomatoes, drained
• 1 5.5 oz. Can Tomato Paste
• 1 398mL Can Sliced Black Olives, drained

Method

Spiralize zucchini into vegetable noodles. If you do not have access to a spiralizer, you can cut your zucchini into long narrow strips, similar to spaghetti or quarter and cut into chunks.

Heat cooking fat in a pot on medium-high heat. Sautée onions and garlic together until fragrant and beginning to soften. Add ground meats and continue to brown. (If you have chosen to cut zucchini into chunks, add them now) Season the meat with dry spices and mix in well. Stir in drained tomatoes, tomato paste, and olives. Allow the meat mixture to simmer so the flavours meld together while some of the liquid boils off.

Bring a large pot of water to boil and toss in a few shakes of salt for flavour. Submerge the spiralized zucchini and cook for 6 to 8 minutes, or until tender but not mushy. Using a colander, drain the water from your zucchini noodles and set aside.

Serve hot and, if you're not a Paleo zealot, add a dash or ten of parmesan cheese.

Bon Appetite!

All photos and illustrations in this post are original work by Mrs. Canadian Renegade.

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