Italian Summer Squash Casserole

Ready to serve

This week, we used our summer squash, zucchini, and fresh basil from the farm to make one of my favorite dishes. My variation of the recipe has changed over the years, but the original was made by my former roommate's sister Laura when she came to visit us. (Shout out to all the Littlejohns who follow this blog!) It has the flavor of lasagna, but no noodles or meat. 

Fresh ingredients

Start with two summer squashes and two zucchinis, cut in half lengthwise and then sliced. Also cut up 1/2 an onion and fresh mushrooms (sliced or quartered). Saute the onions in a large sauce pan (and I mean LARGE...I usually use our wok because there are so many veggies. They do cook down, but it starts out overflowing) until they start to turn clear and then add the zucchini, squash, and mushrooms and pour in about 1 1/2 cups of vegetable broth. While that is cooking, mix together about 3/4 of a 24 oz container of cottage cheese, 3 eggs, a few shakes of Parmesan, and 2/3 of a 12 oz package of mozzarella cheese (save the rest of the mozzarella to sprinkle on top of the casserole). You'll also need the pasta sauce of your choice and fresh basil leaves.

All of the layers

Start layering the ingredients into a 9x13 dish. I usually use this pattern: sauce, 1/2 the veggies, 1/2 the basil, all the cheese mixture, more sauce, remaining veggies, remaining basil, more sauce, remaining mozzarella cheese. Really it all kind of mixes together though, so do it how you want. Make sure you drain any remaining broth/liquid from the veggies with a slotted spoon though otherwise it can get pretty runny. Bake it at 350 for an hour. Turns out delicious and makes great leftovers!

The layering process