Parmesan & Zucchini Casserole with Red Wine Mushrooms

Published July 22, 2018

My family never ate casseroles growing up. The only memory I have of casseroles as a dinner option is around Christmas or Thanksgiving. My Great-Aunt Cathy would make a traditional green bean casserole or a creamed onion dish.

Which is why this week's recipe was a fun first for me.

As a foodie, I care about the presentation and visual appeal of food. I follow the phrase "We eat with our eyes first." I think it's difficult to appeal to someone with a dish when you can't see what's in it. 

So why did I make a casserole? 

Here I'm going on about the lack of appeal / my personal experience with casseroles, so why did I choose to make one? 

Last week my sister visited her best friend's farm and came home with a bag full of zucchini and squash. These giant green zucchinis have greeted me from the fridge every day.

I knew I could make zucchini fritters, bread, or a casserole. I still have enough zucchini left to make the fritters (coming soon!), but I decided to try the casserole first. 

My Parmesan & Zucchini Casserole

I chose the ingredients for this casserole based on the flavors I love, plus whatever I had in my fridge.

I had a leftover container of sliced white mushrooms. I decided to sauté them with garlic and red wine to incorporate into the casserole mixture. 

To create the creamy filling I used Parmesan and cheddar cheese. When I make sautéed green squash I add Parmesan, so I figured it would pair well with zucchini too. 

My Zucchini Casserole Ingredients

As always, I encourage you to make your own version of my recipe. You can use different vegetables, cheeses, and additional seasonings depending on your preferences.

Parmesan & Zucchini Casserole Instructions

Since this is a casserole, there isn't an "incorrect" way of combining the ingredients. The only piece of the recipe that you want to focus on is removing the water from the zucchini. 

To do so, you salt the grated zucchini and let it sit in a colander. After 10 minutes, wring out the water from the zucchini (with your hands or by placing the zucchini in a towel). This ensures that your casserole doesn't turn into a watery soup. 

Take into consideration any other vegetables that you add to your casserole may add water to the dish. My mushrooms didn't add too much water to the bottom of the pan.

I let the casserole sit for 5 minutes and gel together before I cut it. 

My Thoughts 

I'm happy with how my casserole turned out! It was the perfect combination of light vegetables with rich flavors like the garlic and cheese.

The portion I made was enough for a side dish for about 5 people. If you'd like to make this as the main entree you could double the recipe. 

I used Italian breadcrumbs on top of my casserole. Panko breadcrumbs would've been an additional texture to the dish.

My onions were diced and had a tiny bit of crunch to them, which I didn't mind. If you worry about this, cut them extra small and bake your casserole an extra 5 minutes. 

K. Martinelli Makes Parmesan & Zucchini Casserole with Red Wine Mushrooms

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