Spicy zucchini casserole with eggs, ricotta cheese, parmesan, plum tomatoes, bread and basil. Zucchini Ricotta Layers.
In my parents’ garden lives The Beast, a 5 foot tall zucchini plant that produces 2 full size zucchini per day.
Despite all the great zucchini recipes we have, it’s still hard for three people to eat 14 zucchini a week! (There is also a pattypan squash plant.)
This is an easy to make layered breakfast casserole with shredded zucchini, tomatoes, basil, ricotta, and parmesan. (The tomatoes and basil are growing like crazy now too.)
Actually, I’m not sure what to call it. Breakfast casserole seems to fit because of the eggs, although we ate that one for lunch. You could also call it layer.
It’s like a frittata, but it’s baked rather than stovetop (although I’m sure you could make a frittata out of it). The inspiration for this comes from a “cuajado” or baked frittata popular in Sephardic cuisine. This isn’t a cuajado, but the flavors are there and they’re great together.
Zucchini Breakfast Casserole
ingredients
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6-8 eggs
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1 cup ricotta cheese (about 245 g)
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1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese (130 g)
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1/4 teaspoon Tabasco sauce or other hot chili sauce
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1 teaspoon of salt
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1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
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3 cups grated zucchini (from 2-3 fresh zucchini, approx. 390 g)
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1 1/2 cups chopped plum tomatoes (from 4-5 fresh tomatoes, approx. 370 g),
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1/2 cup chopped fresh basil (from about 20 leaves)*
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4 cups of bread from the day before, cut into cubes (from around 4 slices, rustic French or Italian bread is best)
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Extra virgin olive oil
- * Chiffonade basil by stacking a few leaves on top of each other, rolling them up like a cigar, slicing thinly, starting at one end of the cigar and working your way down.
method
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Make the egg cheese base
In a large bowl, beat the eggs. Add the ricotta and beat until smooth. Mix in the grated Parmesan cheese, Tabasco, salt and pepper.
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Prepare the vegetables and bread, add to the egg mixture
Preheat the oven to 175°C. Prepare vegetables and bread. Once you’ve chopped the tomatoes, squeeze excess moisture out of them by pressing them in a colander or wrapping them in paper towels and squeezing. Add the tomatoes, basil and zucchini to the egg mixture.
Moisten the bread cubes with a little water and squeeze out excess moisture with kitchen paper. Mix the bread cubes into the egg mixture.
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Bake
Generously brush the bottom and sides of a 9×13 baking dish with olive oil. Pour the egg and vegetable mixture into the baking pan and spread evenly in the pan. Place on the middle rack of the oven.
Bake at 175°C for 30 minutes. The casserole should rise and lightly brown. If it’s not browned enough after 30 minutes at this temperature, increase the heat to 220°C (425°F) and cook for another 5-10 minutes.
Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes before cutting into squares to serve.
Links:
Sephardic Flavors – by Joyce Goldstein
