Heat a skillet, add olive oil and sauté the chopped onion for about 5-6 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté about 30-60 seconds more (don’t let the garlic brown).

Transfer the onion and garlic to a slow cooker (or do step 1 in your slow cooker if it has a sauté function), and add the crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, red wine, Bay leaf, sea salt, black pepper, and parsley. Cook on low for 4 hours. Taste the sauce, and add some additional salt and pepper if necessary, along with your fresh basil.

About 30 minutes before your sauce is done, boil a large pot of water and preheat the oven to 400 degrees. When the water is at a rolling boil, add 1 tablespoon salt and then the ziti. Cook for about 11 minutes (or according to package directions) until just al dente. Reserve 1 cup of pasta cooking water and drain the ziti into a colander. Put the drained ziti in the sauce, add the diced raw zucchini and the chopped Italian sausage. Depending on how thick your sauce is, you may want to thin it a bit with the reserved pasta water.

While the water is boiling and the oven is heating, put the eggs in a medium mixing bowl, and add the ricotta, the cottage cheese, about a third of the mozzarella, ½ cup of the parmesan, nutmeg, parsley, sea salt, and pepper. Stir to combine.

Spray a large deep baking dish (at least 9” x 13”) with cooking spray or use some olive oil on a paper towel.

Put half of the sauced ziti in the bottom of the baking dish.

Spread all of the ricotta mixture on top of the zucchini – just like you would with a layer of lasagna!

Cover the ricotta mixture with the rest of the sauced ziti.

Sprinkle on the remaining mozzarella and parmesan. Top with the breadcrumbs.

Bake for 30 minutes or until the top is nicely browned. Let the baking dish cool on a wire rack for at least 10-15 minutes before serving, so that it will hold together well when you cut it into portions.