Baked Zucchini sticks

When I was a little girl (about 9 I think) my parents took us to Italy. You may think that from all the food I ate there I would tell you how great the pasta and pizza were - and I am sure they were, but I seriously don't remember.
And although I remember the ice cream being yummy, there is only one dish that I still remember the taste - deep fried zucchini sticks.

Now, deep fried zucchini sticks are not something that is really that health concious, so I tried to experiement with it a bit and came up with a baked version (similar to how I prepare schnitzel) that is totally yummi too (it actually comes close to what I remember).

Here it goes:

2 small or 1 large zucchini, cut into sticks

5 tbs flour
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp black peppper
2 large eggs
1.5  c  panko or bread crumbs
Preheat oven to about 200C and prepare a baking sheet.

Pat the zucchini pieces dry with a paper towel first.
Put the flour, salt and pepper into a blastic bag. Add the zucchini, close the bag and shake until the sticks are well coated with flour. (You could use the drenge it on a plate technique, but I find it easier this way).

One a plate whisk the eggs well, while on a seperate plate put the panko or bread crumbs.

Dip the floury sticks into the eggs, making sure that it is well covered and then covering it with the bread crumbs/ panko. Just like preparing schnitzel, it is quite messy...

Arrange zucchini sticks on a baking sheet without crowding and bake for about 25 minutes or until golden.

Zuchini Lasagne

White sauce is extremely fattening. Try this lasagna where you use a mixture of cheese and cottage cheese in stead. I also make the tomato sauce myself. It is fast and I know what I put into my food.

250gr cooked lasagna noodles
3/4 cup shredded mozzarella
1.5 cups cottage cheese (I use 3%)
4 Tbs grated Parmesan cheese
2 zucchinis, sliced
1 large can crushed tomatoes
1 small package tomato paste
6 fresh basil leaves, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed

Preheat oven to 175C. Lightly oil a 20 by 30 cm baking dish with oil.
In a small bowl combine 1 Tbs Parmesan with 2 Tbs Cottage cheese. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, combine the remaining mozzarella, cottage and Parmesan.
In a blender, mix together the crushed tomatoes, the tomato paste, water which you measure with the pack the tomato paste came in, do that twice, the basil leaves, onion and garlic. Pulse until the whole mixture resembles tomato sauce.
Spread a thin layer of the sauce in the bottom of a baking dish. Add about a third of the noodles in a single layer. Spread half of the cheese mixture on top, layer with half of the zucchinis. Repeat this process once. Finally, add a thin layer of sauce. Top with the noodles, sauce and reserved cheese mixture. Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil.
Bake for about 40 minutes. Enjoy with a light side salad.

TIP: If you like to freeze this, wrap it tightly in aluminum foil BEFORE baking it. On the day you want to make it, you can either defrost it first and then bake it for 40 minutes, or just put it straight from the freezer into the oven, increasing the cooking time to about 1 hour.