Whew – It’s zucchini season and I’m overwhelmed with the squash. So, I started looking through my hundred-year-old cookbooks for a summer squash recipe. I was pleased to find directions for making a Sautéed Summer Squash Casserole. It called for sautéed squash, grated cheese, chopped hard-boiled eggs, and tomato sauce. The casserole directions were part of a recipe for Sautéed Squash, which also contained a possible luncheon menu that included the squash dish.
I decided to make the suggested menu for lunch recently. My husband and I had the Sautéed Summer Squash Casserole, a green salad, bread with butter, and coffee. It was a nice lunch. The casserole was good, with the tomato flavor predominating. Personally, I might have liked the flavor better if the cheese and some of the other flavors had been more noticeable.
My mother-in-law had a zucchini casserole recipe that called for boiling sliced zucchini before adding to the casserole, while this recipe called for sautéing the slices. The squash slices are definitely firmer when sautéed rather than boiled, which makes a nice texture.
Here’s the original recipe:
When I updated the recipe, and throughout this post, I spelled “sauted” as “sautéed.” I believe that is the preferred spelling, though both spellings can be found on current websites.
Since the original recipe does not include amounts, I took a stab at guessing the amounts when updating the recipe.
Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:
Sauteed Summer Squash Casserole
2 small summer squash (zucchini, yellow squash, etc.)
1 egg, beaten
1 cup fine white bread crumbs (I tore up 2 slices of bread, and put them in a blender to pulverize them.)
shortening/oil
2 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
1 cup grated cheese (I used cheddar.)
1 1-lb. can tomato sauce
Preheat oven to 375° F. Wash and cut the squash into 1/2-inch slices; dip in the beaten eggs, and coat with bread crumbs. Set aside.
Heat 1/2 inch of shortening or oil in a large skillet. Carefully place the breaded squash slices in the pan in a single layer. Depending upon pan size, the slices may need to be cooked in several batches. Sauté for about two minutes or until the bottom side of each slice is lightly browned, then gently turn and fry until the other side is browned. Remove from pan and drain on paper towel.
Put a thin layer of tomato sauce in the bottom of a casserole dish. (I used a 1-quart dish.) Add a layer of the fried squash slices, then add layers of chopped hard-boiled eggs and grated cheese; cover with tomato sauce. Fill the casserole with additional layers of fried squash slices, chopped hard-boiled eggs, grated cheese, and tomato sauce. Bake in the oven until the mixture is hot and bubbly.
Looks great!
It’s tasty.
I have a Pinterest Page I called “zucchini gods” and lesser vegetables . “Have you ever noticed how phallic a zucchini is? Especially if one gets away from you for a couple of hours if not days!!!”.
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hmmm. . . I never thought about that.
Sounds..or should I say. Reads..like something good to try.
It’s a good way to use zucchini.
I think I have seen a similar dish with eggplant. Adding a bit of cheese would probably be good.
Eggplant would work well in this. When I made this recipe, based on the instructions in the old recipe, I put tomato sauce as the top layer. If I made it again, I think that I might make cheese the top layer.
It does sound quite tasty!
It’s yummy.
Hmm. Deep frying always makes things taste better… If we weren’t in a no fry zone (per doctors orders) I’d be all over this!
Love the phrase, “no fry zone.” We generally try to stay in the same zone. I’m going to have to remember it.
Hehe! Yeah, for the most part it isn’t an issue but sometimes you really want some fried chicken or fish… but we avoid temptation. The only time is once during Lent – we attend a Jonah Fish Fry (but I tend to think that’s against the whole point of Lent)…
🙂 It’s challenging to follow all the “rules.”
It is! And that doesn’t count temptation!!
Yes, zucchini bliss!
It’s that time of year.
Sauté instead of boiling squash is a sure sign of changing cooking styles in the same dish. I would be more likely to slice and toss with a bit of salt and let drain to get rid of extra moisture and not pre-cook.
Cheese and butta always make it better!!!
Good suggestions. It would be fun to try different ways of prepping the zucchini when making basically the same dish to see which turns out the best.
Yummy very nice
It was tasty.
I am pretty sure you are a good cook Sheryl 😊