Sausage & Zucchini Casserole with Garlic Bread

I'm still trying to find all my kitchen tools after moving, so the leftovers are long ago consumed for each recipe this week, but hopefully still useful!

Note: the pictures are from a double batch of this recipe.

1 - 1.5 pounds italian sausage (I used hot - it made for a zippy final product)

4 or 5 zucchini and/or yellow squash, cut into bite size chunks

1 large onion, diced

16 oz ricotta cheese

2 small cans tomato sauce

1 15 oz can diced tomato, drained

basil, oregano, rosemary, parsley (dried or fresh)

garlic powder




Brown the italian sausage in a large pan. Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon into a bowl, and discard the liquid from the pan.























Add a few tablespoons of oil to the pan, and add the onion. Cook until soft, stirring occasionally. Add squash, and continue to cook. Salt and pepper to taste.














If using fresh herbs, wash them, remove the leaves from the stems, and roughly chop them. Stir into sausage along with tomato sauce and drained diced tomatoes. Stir in cooked onion and squash mixture.





















Layer in casserole dish with dollops of ricotta cheese, and top with a sprinkling of romano or parmesan. Bake at 400, just until the cheese on top begins to melt. Remember, everything is already cooked. If you're in a hurry, skip the baking and just scoop the mixture right into a bowl. Serve with garlic bread, if desired.























Garlic Bread:
1/2 loaf french bread (day old will be fine)
1/2 stick butter
3 cloves garlic, chopped (or 3 of my beloved frozen garlic cubes)
a bit of dried basil or parsley, for color
a teaspoon or two of romano or parmesan cheese

Melt the butter in the microwave. (the defrost button works best for me). Mix in the garlic, green spice and cheese. Brush onto opened halves of the french bread. Place in oven under broiler - about five minutes but keep an eye on it!

French Bread Pizza

Crust:

1 loaf French bread

Sauce:

2 small cans tomato sauce (or 2 cans tomato paste and some water)

basil, oregano, salt, pepper, thyme, garlic, onion

cheese:

mozzarella

(add any other varieties you like: havarti, asiago, parrano, romano, parmesan, cheddar)

toppings:

sky is the limit! I used zucchini, salami, tomatoes, chicken and carmelized onions on this batch

Cut the French bread in half horizontally, and then in halves lengthwise. Lay on a baking sheet.

Make sauce (or open a jar of pizza sauce - we won't tell!). If you have pesto in the fridge, just mix a couple of tablespoons of that into the tomato and forget the spices. Spread the sauce on the bread.

Add cheese(s) and toppings.

Bake at 400 for about 20 minutes.

A whole meal, cooked on the grill!

I've been thinking for a couple of weeks about if it was possible to do an entire meal on the grill. Not a grilled veggie kabobs and grilled chicken type meal, because of course that can be done. I was thinking of a more complete meal - one where I would normally use my oven.

As I posted a few days ago, I simply LOVE zucchini fries now. But with temperatures in the upper 90's today, I did NOT want to turn on my oven. So I decided to try "baking" them on the grill.
















My grill has three burners - so I lighted it up, and turned the left and right ones down to low grill, and turned the middle burned off. I have a thermostat on the front of the grill, so I was hoping for approximately 400 degrees.

Meanwhile I prepped the zucchini - cut it into match sticks, dipped it in a beaten egg (which turned out just as well as the whipped egg white - so don't bother with the beaters), and then in the mixture of panko crumbs, flour and spices. These went into a greased disposable aluminum pan. Onto the top shelf of the grill they went, and I left them there to cook for about forty five minutes.

Meanwhile, I decided the rest of the menu would be potatoes, steak, salad and strawberry shortcake.

For the potatoes I almost followed my recipe from June:














After I put the potatoes on the grill, I made up the batter for strawberry shortcake:

1 cup Bisquick
1/4 cup melted butter
3 Tablespoons sugar

Mix these together, and then add milk until it is a thick dough consistency.



I then spooned the batter onto a sheet of aluminum foil, and put them on the grill. They probably cooked 30 minutes total.





(this was after about fifteen minutes)







I turned the right side of the grill up to high, and went back in to prep the steaks. I normally use a rub from Penzeys called "Chicago Steak Seasoning". I cooked the steaks about three minutes per side, and then took it all off the grill. It worked great!

















To make the strawberry sauce, I melted 1 cup of low sugar strawberry jam (that I canned in May), and added about 10 sliced strawberries. Serve with whipped cream:

Zucchini Oven Fries

Well I had more zucchini, and I started to think about oven fries (both potato and sweet potato) and vegetable tempura, and wondering if I could make something similar. I looked up some recipes on Google, but didn't find one I loved, so I did this:

4 large zucchini, cut in half and then in small strips - about pencil thickness.

whites of 2 eggs

1/2 cup panko (tempura style Japanese bread crumbs)
1/4 cup flour
2 Tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon Ancho chili powder (which is not very hot - use a hotter one if you prefer)
bit of celery salt - just a whim, I'm sure you could skip it
freshly ground pepper (1 teaspoon?)
1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic or garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder




Preheat oven to 450. Grease a large cookie pan (I brushed mine with olive oil). Beat the egg whites in a mixer to stiff peaks stage.


Mix dry ingredients together in a bowl. Dip a few zucchini sticks at a time in the egg white, and then roll in crumb mixture. Arrange on pan:

Bake for about 15 minutes, turn the fries, return to oven, and bake another 15 - 20 minutes. (I only cooked them for about twenty-five, but they needed a little bit longer)

I have to say these turned out VERY good. Fairly low fat, but yet very tasty. We had them as a side dish with cheeseburgers.

When Life Gives You Zucchini ...

.... make zucchini casseroles!

The CSA share this week:



















It was actually only supposed to include 4 zucchini, but there is a "trade" box, so if you don't like something you can trade for a different vegetable. I didn't think the cucumbers look too great, so I traded mine for zucchini.

My thrown together casserole included:

2 large onions (Vidalia, actually), chopped and cooked


some chopped garlic (again my little Trader Joes garlic cubes)


fresh chopped basil, rosemary and parsley from my garden - generous handfuls


3 zucchini, sliced into half moons


2 cans of diced tomatoes, drained


about 2 pounds ground beef, browned and drained


1 cup leftover cooked rice from my freezer


salt, pepper (I was heavy handed with the fresh ground pepper - gave it a nice bite)


shredded mozzarella


bread crumbs

I combined all of the ingredients except the cheese and bread crumbs, poured it into a 13 x 9 pan, and then topped it off with the cheese and crumbs. Then bake at 375 for a bit longer than I did - I probably baked it twenty-five minutes, but we were hungry and impatient. Forty minutes would probably be perfect.

It was SO wonderfully fragrant with the fresh herbs and garlic. Next time I think I would do the same thing, but with Italian sausage instead of the browned beef.