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ZUCHINNI CASSEROLE WITH SEASONED BREADCRUMBS
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 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.
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.
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.
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