ZUCHINNI CASSEROLE WITH SEASONED BREAD CRUMBS
This recipe is a great quick vegetarian main dish or you can alter it just a bit and it becomes a side dish. I love to make this on those rare days in summer when it is rainy and gray. I generally add more garlic than this recipe calls for (up to 6 cloves) which really revs it up.
What you need:
2 med or one large zuchinni, thinly sliced
1 med onion, thinly sliced
1 med green or red bell pepper, thinly sliced
3 med fresh tomatoes* or 2 large ones, peeled and quartered
3 garlic cloves
Olive Oil for sauteing
1 tablespoon of Italian herb mixture
or use just oregano and/or basil, fresh or dried, to taste
1 Cup Bread Crumbs**, preferrably seasoned
1 Cup Cheese (your choice but I prefer parmesan and romano)
Sugar
Salt and pepper
Slice the onion and pepper into nice thin round slices. Chop the garlic finely or you can use equivalent in another form. The garlic is a matter of taste. Adjust to your liking. Saute the zuchinni, onions, peppers and garlic in olive oil until veggies are just starting to soften, do not overcook. Reduce heat to med-low.
Add tomatoes and cook until mixture is like a thick soup (should be about 10 minutes or so.) Season with salt, pepper and Italian herbs. (If using fresh herbs, a small handful is fine, if dried about a tablespoon.)A half teaspoon of sugar added here will help to balance the flavors, but is not necessary, if you don't do sugar. Stir occasionally so it doesn't stick to pan or burn.
At this point, this recipe can be used as a simple side dish. To make as a main dish casserole, complete the rest of the recipe.
Using a small oven-proof casserole dish, spray or wipe with olive oil,to reduce sticking. Line the bottom of the casserole with a layer of bread crumbs. Seasoned ones work the best but any kind will do. This layer needs to be about 3/4 to one inch thick. Next, add a layer of cheese, not as thick as bread crumbs. Spoon your hot tomato-zuchinni mixture over these layers. Add another layer of bread crumbs (not as thick as first layer) and more cheese on top of that. Continue to layer, making sure that the final layers are bread crumbs and cheese on the top. Bake this uncovered at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until top begins to brown slightly. Let it rest just a bit before serving.
*You can always use canned tomatoes, if you do not have fresh. One 16 ounce can should be perfect for this recipe. f you are making for more than 2 people, just increase the recipe. If you find you would like to make it thicker, add more cheese and breadcrumbs. You get the idea.
Homemade Seasoned Bread Crumbs
**Try making your own breadcrumbs. Bread that is too stale to eat plain is perfect to use. I take the bread and cut into cubes, then saute in a just little butter (or olive oil, depends on the mood, you know) and garlic. Sprinkle with a bit of sea salt. You can also make all kinds of seasoned crumbs, just by seasoning with herbs and spices, at this point. Try adding a little pesto...that makes amazing bread crumbs, especially for this dish.
Toss frequently while sauteing. After they are nice and coated and just beginning to turn brownish, I put them on a cookie sheet and bake at 200 degrees in the oven until completely toasty. How long that takes depends on how much butter you used and how saturated they were. They will not be dry like storebought crumbs, but boy are they tasty. Use your hands to crumble them when they are cool enough to handle..that is the fun part. Even though not fine crumbs, they give this recipe a kind of rustic character. If you want them finer, use the blender.
Or don't crumble then and you can use them as croutons in your salads. Store crumbs or croutons in an airtight container. If you want to make them ahead or in quantity, store container in freezer. I don't recommend long term storage (more than a couple of days) for croutons, unless you are willing to retoast them before you use them, but the crumbs will do fine, since you can add them staight from the freezer to your recipes.
Since stale bread works so much better, when I am making croutons (crumbs) to store, I buy a loaf of whatever bread I want to use, take it home and leave it sitting on the counter, open to the air, for a day. It gets stale pretty quickly that way. Sounds like a waste of a good loaf of bread, but an 8 oz container of bread crumbs costs $1.89 or more and I can get twice the volume from a loaf of bread. So, unless the bread costs $3.78, I am ahead.
