Marinara sauce and meatballs

I wanted to stock the freezer when my husband was out of town recently, so I decided to make tomato sauce and meatballs along with batches of breakfast burritos and veggie burgers. I have never had much luck making homemade sauce, and this is the happiest I’ve been with a batch. Same thing with the meatballs. They’ve never had enough flavor for me, but I love these. I guess the trick is the half pork, half beef mixture, and the use of bread soaked in milk instead of breadcrumbs. I used the leanest beef and pork I could find and they still came out great. Next time I’d probably add some tomato paste to get the sauce a little thicker, but otherwise I followed the recipe as found here. Click for the meatballs.

And the fabulous result:

Zucchini lasagna

Twenty-six years ago, when my mom brought me home from the hospital, my sweet dad cooked her this lasagna. And a blueberry pie! That might have been the last pie cooked by either of them, as I can’t recall one during my lifetime (my mom is more into cakes). But the zucchini lasagna finally saw the light of day again while I was home visiting my family this week. While looking for ideas for dinner in her old recipe box, my mom found this recipe in her handwriting on a lined piece of paper, so the origin is unknown. It’s an easy way to deal with a bounty of summer squash.

Zucchini Lasagna

3/4-1 pound ground beef
1 jar tomato sauce, or about 4 cups homemade
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp basil
salt
pepper
4 medium zucchini
10 ounces cottage cheese or ricotta cheese
1 egg, beaten
2 cups grated mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brown beef. Add sauce and seasonings and simmer, uncovered for 10 minutes. Slice zucchini lengthwise into slices 1/4 inch thick. Salt and microwave about 4 minutes, then pat dry. Arrange half of the zucchini in the bottom of a 8×12 baking dish. Season with salt and pepper. Combine cottage cheese and egg and spread over zucchini. Top with half of mozzarella and half of meat sauce. Layer with remaining zucchini, mozzarella and sauce. Sprinkle with Parmesan. Bake uncovered for 40 minutes or until hot and bubbling and zucchini is tender. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.