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In my parent’s garden, there lives The Beast, a 5 foot tall zucchini plant that puts out 2 full-sized zucchinis a day.
Even with all the great zucchini recipes we have, it’s hard for three people to consume 14 zucchini a week! (There’s also a pattypan squash plant.)
So around this time of year I’m always looking for ways to use up my overflowing vegetable drawer of zucchini.
This is an easy-to-make strata-like breakfast casserole with grated zucchini, tomatoes, basil, ricotta, and Parmesan. (The tomatoes and basil are growing like mad now too.)
Actually I’m not sure what to call it. Breakfast casserole seems to fit because of the eggs, though we ate this for lunch. You could also call it a strata.
It’s like a frittata but it’s baked, not made on the stovetop (though I’m sure you could make a frittata out of it). The inspiration for it comes from a “cuajado”, or a baked frittata popular in Sephardic cooking. This isn’t a cuajado, but the flavors are there, and they’re terrific together.
Zucchini Breakfast Casserole Recipe
Ingredients
- 6-8 eggs
- 1 cup ricotta cheese (about 245 g)
- 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (130 g)
- 1/4 teaspoon Tabasco sauce or other hot chili sauce
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 3 cups grated zucchini (from 2-3 fresh zucchinis, about 390 g)
- 1 1/2 cups chopped plum tomatoes (from 4-5 fresh tomatoes, about 370 g),
- 1/2 cup sliced fresh basil (from about 20 leaves)*
- 4 cups cubed day-old bread (from about 4 slices, rustic French or Italian bread works best)
- Extra virgin olive oil
*Chiffonade basil by stacking a few leaves on top of each other, roll them up like a cigar, slice thin, starting at one end of the cigar and working your way down.
Method
1 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.
2 Prep the vegetables and bread, add to egg mixture: Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Prepare the vegetables and bread. Once you chop the tomatoes, squeeze excess moisture out of them by pressing them in a sieve, or wrapping in paper towels and squeezing. Add the tomatoes, basil, and zucchini to the egg mixture.
Moisten the bread cubes with a little water then squeeze out any excess moisture using paper towels. Mix the bread cubes into the egg mixture.
3 Bake: Coat the bottom and sides of a 9x13 baking dish generously with olive oil. Pour the egg vegetable mixture into the baking pan and even it out in the pan. Place in the middle rack of the oven.
Bake for 30 minutes at 350°F (175°C). The casserole should puff up and brown lightly. If it hasn't browned enough after 30 minutes at that temp, increase the heat to 425°F (220°C) and cook for 5-10 minutes further.
Remove from oven and let cool on a rack for 10 minutes before cutting into squares to serve.
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- by Joyce Goldstein
Elise Bauer is the founder of Simply Recipes. Elise launched Simply Recipes in 2003 as a way to keep track of her family's recipes, and along the way grew it into one of the most popular cooking websites in the world. Elise is dedicated to helping home cooks be successful in the kitchen. Elise is a graduate of Stanford University, and lives in Sacramento, California.
Zucchini Breakfast Casserole
With zucchini, sun gold tomatoes and basil from the garden, this was simple to make and delicious to eat! Another solid recipe from Elise. Only modification — adding Italian sausage, removed from casing and pre-sautéed before mixing into the casserole. Fed 6 adults, served with a side salad.
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Great idea to add sausage, Beth, thanks for your comment!
How do you think this would work with gluten free bread? Or is it possible to use tater tots or hash browns instead of bread?
Hi Donette, I haven’t tried making it with gluten-free bread but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work, as long as you let the bread dry out a bit. Interesting idea to use hash browns instead of bread. I haven’t done that, but if you do, please let us know how it turns out! Could be an interesting potato casserole.
I’m thinking I would use frozen hash browns, thaw them and use towels to soak the liquid up. Do you think I would need to adjust the time?
Hi Donette, I don’t use frozen hash browns, are they already cooked? If not, you will need to cook them first. Not sure on the timing, with such a major change to the ingredients I think you’ll just have to experiment. Let us know how it goes!
I subbed 2 cups of finely diced potatoes (about 1/4”) instead of the bread to make it gluten free, and it turned out awesome!
What is the best bread to use for this recipe? Also, for the tomatoes do you just cube them and then squeeze out the moisture? I would like to add some bacon in it as well, should I increase any of the ingredients?
Hello Elise…can I use our wonderful Bradley tomatoes at the produce stands instead of the plum tomatoes? I live in Nashville TN and these tomatoes are fantastic. Thank you!
Hi Jeanne, good question! The Bradley tomatoes might be a bit juicier than regular plum tomatoes, but since you are squeezing out the excess juice, you should be fine.
Yum! I mixed it up the night before, let it sit out for 15 minutes in the morning, added the bread cubes, and let it sit while the oven heated. I will add a little more seasoning next time.
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