Delicious casseroles can be prepared not only from cottage cheese, but also zucchini. After trying at least once zucchini casserole, you fall in love with it from the first piece and will cook very often. Despite the seeming simplicity of this dish, it will give you new taste sensations, and the body will enrich with useful substances. Depending on the added ingredients, you can control the calorie content of the dish, making it dietary or more nourishing.
Zucchini Casserole - general principles and methods of cooking
Cooking any casserole involves chopping products, mixing them with sauce or egg mixture and further baking. Squash casserole is no exception. Therefore, zucchini cut into circles, rubbed on a grater or mashed (usually from old fruits). Then mixed with other ingredients, poured sauce and baked. There are many ways to prepare it. The recipe may include tomatoes, cauliflower, potatoes, minced meat, bell pepper, bread, cheese and other products. Restrict the variety of which can only your taste preferences.
Zucchini Casserole - Food Preparation
Zucchini does not require special preparation for casserole. They are washed, and then rubbed on a grater or cut into cups. With over-ripe fruit remove rough skin. The remaining products are also crushed. Often, feta or mozzarella cheese is found in casserole recipes. In order not to run around the shops and markets in search of foreign cheese, replace it with domestic counterparts - cheese, suluguni, Adygei, Tushino. Just try to take the cheese is not a strong salinity.
Zucchini Casserole - Best Recipes
Recipe 1: Zucchini Casserole
This casserole turns out juicy and very appetizing. It will satisfy not only adults, but also children. Her cooking does not take much time and will resolve the issue with dinner. If you want to make the dish more nutritious, add a small piece of chopped bacon. Zucchini of any grade and degree of maturity are suitable for baking, only from over-ripe fruits do not forget to remove the seeds and peel. Ingredients: 1 kilogram of zucchini, 2 onions, 4 eggs, 300 g of feta cheese (soft cheese, Adyghe), 2 garlic cloves, vegetable oil, one bunch of any greens to your taste, salt, 50 g of any hard cheese (sprinkle casserole).
Method of preparation
Chop the zucchini, chopped on a coarse grater, and lightly fry and set aside for about ten minutes to drain the excess liquid (you can drain it in a colander).
Finely chop the onion, fry until golden brown. At this stage, bacon is added, which is fried with onions (this is if they decided to make a casserole with bacon).
Beat eggs, add zucchini, fried onions, chopped cheese, garlic and herbs, salt and mix.
Dish, which will bake the dish, brush with butter, pour the mixture into it, sprinkle with cheese and put in the oven (190C) for 30 minutes.
Cool the finished casserole, cut into pieces and serve.
Recipe 2: Squash casserole with minced meat
Casserole, cooked according to this recipe, will please meat eaters. You can say this is a complete main dish - with meat and vegetable garnish. Therefore, it can be safely served for dinner. In addition, do not have long to stand at the stove. While the casserole is being prepared, you can do other things.
Ingredients: 3 small young zucchini, 300-500 g of any minced meat, 2-3 pcs. tomatoes, 3 cloves of garlic, 100-150 g sour cream (mayonnaise), oil grows. - 2 tbsp. Spoons, salt / ground pepper, 70-100 g of hard cheese.
Method of preparation
Cut courgettes into thin circles, salt and add chopped garlic, butter. Who likes, can add some spices or seasoning to your taste. Put half of zucchini in the form.
Mince salt-pepper, knead and put a second layer. Brush with sour cream or mayonnaise. Lay the third layer of tomatoes, sliced into circles, and once again a layer of zucchini. Smear with sour cream (mayonnaise) and send for 30 minutes in the oven (180-200 degrees). Sprinkle cheese and bake for another 10 minutes to melt the cheese and redden the crust. Serve the dish on the table in the same bowl in which it was prepared.
Recipe 3: Young Zucchini Casserole
This casserole just melts in your mouth. It is tender and not at all greasy. One hundred grams contains a little more than 100 calories, so it is ideal for people who adhere to a healthy and dietary diet. It can be baked on a baking sheet or in a frying pan, or in small cake pans, which children will especially like.
Ingredients: medium-sized young squash, 1 small onion, a bunch of green onions, mozzarella (cheese) - 100 g, 2 tables. spoons finely grated hard cheese, half a cup of flour and 1 tsp. baking powder, a glass of nonfat milk (incomplete), 1 tsp. vegetable oil (in dough), eggs - 2 pcs., spices: pepper and salt.
Method of preparation
Turn the oven on and heat it to 200C. Onions and green onions finely chopped (separately). Zucchini and mozzarella (cheese) coarsely grated. All ingredients are mixed together and put in a dish for baking, which must be oiled.
Cook the dough. Add baking powder to the flour and pour in the milk, constantly stirring and breaking up lumps with a spoon. Add eggs to the resulting dough, add pepper, vegetable oil, and salt. Mass mix and pour in the form of zucchini. Sprinkle grated cheese on top of the casserole and send to the oven for about 35 minutes. Bake until a beautiful golden brown cheese crust forms on the surface, which gives the dish a very appetizing look. Serve warm. Although the cooled casserole remains the same tasty.
Recipe 4: Bechamel Casserole
Bechamel not only enhances the nutritional value of this dish, but also gives a soft creamy taste, which makes it more attractive for gourmets. By adding various seasonings to the sauce, from nutmeg to oregano or basil, you can add many flavors to the taste of the dish. This casserole is prepared fairly quickly, so it is quite possible to serve for breakfast. And to speed up the process, zucchini can be fried in the evening. Ingredients: 2 small squash, 50-70g of hard cheese, 1 glass of milk, butter - 50 g, flour - 2 tbsp. spoons, vegetable oil, pepper and salt.
Method of preparation
On both sides fry zucchini, cut into circles (1-1,5 cm). If zucchini absorbed a lot of oil, you can fold them in a colander for about ten minutes, then pepper and salt.
Prepare the sauce. Melt the butter, fry the flour in it and pour in a thin stream of milk, stirring constantly. Boil the sauce until thick, salt.
Brush with butter form, put zucchini, pour sauce, do not forget to sprinkle with grated cheese. The dish is cooked in the oven (180C) for about 10-15 minutes. The casserole is served hot.
Zucchini Casserole - useful tips from experienced chefs
If you are going to make a casserole of over-ripe zucchini, so that the dish is tender, you should chop them up beforehand - boil and grind or mash. And be sure to clean and remove the seeds.
