A recipe for lasagna that uses ZERO pasta? And still tastes out of this world?! I kid you not, this is one yummy meal. Packed with loads of protein (thanks to the delicious mountains of melted cheese and mince) this is a great meal for the cold winter months.

*Banting is a form of Low Carb High Fat diet (similar in essence to Paleo except that allows dairy). It's much more than a diet though, and followers should be prepared for the lifestyle changes that will follow. You're body will love you for it, I know mine does! To find out more about it click here to read my interview with The Banting Blondes 

I used a store bought pasta sauce for convenience sake (as canned tomatoes are not that easy to come by here in South Korea). You can substitute a lot of things in this recipe (like I did with using dried basil instead of fresh, coconut oil instead of olive oil, cream cheese instead of ricotta as called for by the original recipe by Skinny Taste). Just bear in mind that these things will change the taste of your lasagna slightly. Also, I've just found out you can buy cheese from Gmarket instead of having to trek all the way to your nearest Costco (and it's only a tiny bit more expensive than Costco too!). Click here for the link to the 1kg block. 

Ingredients:  

• 500g lean mince (pork is the cheapest mince here in Korea but you can substitute for beef or even chicken)
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1/2 onion
• 1 tsp coconut oil
• salt and pepper
• 1 can crushed tomatoes (to make my life easier I used a store bought pasta sauce...one of the 'meat variety')
• 2 Tbsp chopped basil (fresh is best but I can only get hold of the dried kind)
• 3 medium zucchini, sliced thinly
• 1/2 tub cream cheese
• 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese
• 1 cup cheddar/mozzarella  cheese 
• 1 large egg

Directions:

1. In a medium sauce pan, brown meat and season with salt. When cooked, drain in colander to remove any fat. Add coconut oil to a pan and saute garlic and onions for about 2 minutes. Return the meat to the pan, add tomatoes/pasta sauce, basil, salt and pepper. Simmer on low for at least 30-40minutes, covered. Do not add extra water, the sauce should be thick.

2. Meanwhile, slice the zucchini into thin slices, sprinkle with salt and set aside for 10 minutes. Zucchini has a lot of water when cooked, salting it takes out a lot of that moisture. After 10 minutes, blot excess moisture with a paper towel. This step took me the most amount of time as I have very little space to spread out in my kitchen.

3. On a gas grill or grill pan, grill zucchini on each side, until cooked, about 1-2 minutes per side. Place on paper towels to soak any excess moisture.

Preheat oven to 350°.

4. In a medium bowl mix cream cheese, parmesan cheese and egg. Stir well. 

5. In a glass casserole dish spread some sauce on the bottom and layer the zucchini to cover. Then place some of the ricotta/cream cheese mixture, then top with the mozzarella/cheddar cheese and repeat the process until all your ingredients are used up. Top with sauce and cheddar/mozzarella and cover with foil.

6. Bake for 45 minutes covered at 180°C, then uncovered 15 minutes. Let stand about 5 - 10 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!

*Adapted from the original recipe by Skinny Taste