NanNan’s Zucchini Casserole is summer to me. My PapPa was an avid vegetable gardener and my NanNan used to make this zucchini casserole repeatedly, trying to keep up with the abundance of squash coming out of the garden. NanNan’s Zucchini Casserole was my favorite back then.
But now, in my kitchen, it’s very different. NanNan 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 NanNan used to say, “You have it your way (Mendy), and I’ll have it mine.”
NanNan’s Zucchini Casserole
Equipment
- 1½ – 2 quart deep dish casserole
Ingredients
- 2 zucchini
- 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)
- 1/4 cup half-and-half
Instructions
- Preheat the oven – Preheat the oven to 350°.
- 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 1/4 cup half-and-half.
- Shred the cheese and gently toss the ingredients – Shred the cheese on a box grater. In a large bowl, add the onion, zucchini, tomatoes and juice, the grated cheese, and the bread, tossing gently to combine. Salt and pepper generously.
- Bake the casserole – Pour the mixture into a greased baking dish and pat down gently. You don't want it to be perfectly flat – you want pieces of bread to peak out and caramelize. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for one hour. Remove the foil, increase the temperature to 400°, and bake for 5-10 minutes longer, until the tips of the bread are brown and crunchy. Let rest for 20 minutes or so.
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.
NanNan 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 NanNan is still with me every time I make NanNan’s Zucchini Casserole.