• Preheat oven to 325 F and grease a 9x13 inch baking pan.
• Slice zucchini lengthwise into 1/4 inch slices and sprinkle with salt. I used a Pampered Chef Simple Slicer to slice mine.
• Mix the ricotta, egg and 1 tsp pepper in a bowl

Make the sauce!

• Cook and stir ground beef and black pepper in a large skillet over medium high heat for 5-8 minutes.
• Add in green pepper and onion; cook and stir until meat is no longer pink. Drain any fat.
• Stir in tomato paste, tomato sauce, wine, basil, and oregano, adding a small amount of hot water if sauce is too thick.
• Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer sauce for about 20 minutes, stirring frequently.

Assemble.

• Spread 1/2 of the meat sauce into the bottom of prepared pan.
• Then layer 1/2 the salted zucchini slices, (optional: all of the spinach, followed by all of the mushrooms), then 1/2 the mozzarella cheese.
• Add dollops of the ricotta and egg mixture along with sprinkles of mozzarella
• Repeat by layering the remaining meat sauce, zucchini slices, ricotta mixture and mozzarella.
• Spread Parmesan cheese evenly over the top; cover with foil.
• Bake for 45 minutes and then remove foil; raise oven temperature to 350 F , and bake for another 15 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.