Skillet Zucchini Lasagna
Dehydrated zucchini, beef crumbles, and sauce powder rebuilt into a layered mess in one pot.
- calories
- 620
- weight
- 5.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 113
- protein
- 38 g
- serves
- 2, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 15 min
- total time
- 20 min
- water
- 600 ml boiled
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Canister stove
- Liquid fuel
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Backpacking
- One pot
- Dehydrate ahead
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Dried zucchini slices | 2 cups | cut 1/8 inch lengthwise, dried until brittle |
|---|---|---|
| Freeze-dried ground beef | 3 oz | |
| Dried pasta sauce powder | 1/2 cup | or a leathered sheet of 24 oz jarred sauce |
| Powdered whole milk | 3 tbsp | stands in for the cottage cheese |
| Parmesan, grated hard | 1/4 cup | |
| Instant mashed potato flakes | 2 tbsp | thickener, replaces the flour dredge |
| Salt and pepper | 1/2 tsp each | |
| Italian herbs | 1 tsp | |
| Olive oil | 1 tbsp |
Method
- Put the zucchini and beef in the pot with 600 ml of water. Bring it to a boil, then cut the heat and let it sit covered for 10 minutes. Zucchini rehydrates slowly.
- Relight the stove on low. Stir in the sauce powder, herbs, salt, and pepper. Simmer two minutes, stirring so nothing scorches.
- Kill the heat. Sprinkle in the milk powder and potato flakes and stir until the liquid thickens and clings to the zucchini.
- Add the parmesan and oil, cover for a minute, then stir once and eat out of the pot.
The original is a baked casserole, which is not happening on a stove. What survives the translation is the structure: zucchini, meat sauce, and something white and soft between them. Dried zucchini is the whole reason this works on trail. It weighs almost nothing, and the water it gave up at home is water you would otherwise have to boil off.
The flour dredge in the oven version exists to soak up zucchini moisture. Here that job goes to potato flakes, added at the end, where they thicken the pot without lumping. Cottage cheese and egg are a fridge problem, so milk powder and parmesan carry the dairy instead. Both go in off the heat. Boiled milk powder curdles and turns grainy.
Packing
Zucchini and beef in one bag, sauce powder and herbs in a second, milk powder, potato flakes, and parmesan in a third. Keeping the dairy separate means it goes in off the heat, where it will not break.
Variations
- Swap the beef for a bag of dried lentils cooked ahead and dried again.
- A crushed sheet of hard flatbread stirred in at the end gives it something closer to noodle texture.
https://mealswithmaria.site/lasagna-with-cottage-cheese-recipe