Nan Nan’s Zucchini Casserole is summer to me. My Pap Pa was an avid vegetable gardener and my Nan Nan used to make this zucchini casserole repeatedly, trying to keep up with the abundance of squash coming out of the garden. Nan Nan’s Zucchini Casserole was my favorite dish back then.
But now, in my kitchen, it’s very different. Nan Nan used Velveeta cheese product; I use dilled Havarti or some other creamy cheese, real cheese. She used white bread, probably Wonder Bread, and I use torn chunks of homemade sourdough, sometimes sourdough studded with walnuts and rosemary (Steve K. approved). Let’s call it a strata, shall we? As Nan Nan used to say, “You have it your way (Mendy), and I’ll have it mine.”
Nan Nan’s Zucchini Casserole
Equipment
- 9X13 casserole dish with a lid
Ingredients
- 2 zucchini (about 2 pounds)
- 1 onion
- 2 medium tomatoes ( or sub 14.5 oz. can of Muir Glen Organic Diced Tomatoes)
- 10-12 ounces cheese (pepper jack, havarti, or another melty cheese)
- 1/3 loaf sourdough bread (crusts removed, torn into bite-sized chunks – about 250 grams)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven – Preheat the oven to 400°.
- Chop the veg and soak the bread – Chop the onions and zucchini into a rather chunky dice. Dice the tomatoes, reserving the juice. Soak the bread in the reserved tomato juice. If you don’t have enough juice, add some milk, no more than ¼ cup together.
- Shred the cheese and gently toss the ingredients – Shred the cheese on a box grater. In a large bowl, add the onion, zucchini, tomatoes, the grated cheese, and the soaked bread, tossing gently to combine. Salt and pepper generously.
- Bake the casserole – Pour the mixture into a greased baking dish and pat down. You don't want it to be perfectly flat – you want pieces of bread to peak out and get crunchy. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for one hour. Remove the foil, and bake for 5-10 minutes longer, until the tips of the bread are browned. Let rest for 20 minutes or so. Waiting is really important because the texture becomes a bit firmer and the flavors become more vibrant as the casserole cools.
We freeze a lot of the squash and tomatoes from our garden, so I even make this a few times in the dark of the winter, using our frozen veg. Still delish to me.
Nan Nan has been gone for a couple of decades. She passed while I was living in Boston and I missed the funeral because my flight was cancelled due to weather. I was distraught. But maybe I didn’t really need to say goodbye in that way. She comes up nearly every time I talk on the phone with my mother – we both miss her. But Nan Nan is still with me every time I make Nan Nan’s Zucchini Casserole.
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