I’m back in the kitchen! And couldn’t be happier about it. So to celebrate, this week I wanted to share one of my favorite casserole recipes. The rock star here is zucchini. Zucchini is getting into peak season with the coming of the summer months and it is such a versatile vegetable! It can be baked, fried, steamed, sautéed, or just eaten raw. (Baked is my choice of preparation here, but try out new things with it. You never know what will surprise you!)

This casserole is so simple, affordable, hearty, healthy, and not to mention delicious. My favorite Italian food is hands down chicken alfredo, but when trying to make healthy lifestyle and diet choices, it doesn’t really fall into the category of “diet friendly.” So my NEXT favorite is any kind of tomato sauce. Along with zucchini, this recipe features tomato sauce, whole-wheat penne pasta, and a small amount of shredded Asiago cheese. The aroma alone will have everyone in the house wondering what new thing you’ve cooked up, and they’ll be asking for it again as soon as they taste it!

Here’s what you’ll need:

–       Enough zucchini to cover a 9”X13” pan – about 2 works for me!

–       5 egg whites

–       ¾ cup of whole wheat, seasoned bread crumbs (I use an Italian blend to bring out the flavors in my tomato sauce.)

–       1 pound of whole wheat penne pasta

–       3 cups of tomato sauce (you can make your own, but I’m not there yet)

–       ¾ – 1 cup of Asiago cheese

–       Herbs for topping **

**optional

FIRST – preheat your oven to 400 F. I always forget that step.

Wash and cut your zucchini into thin slices. 

Pour egg whites into one bowl and bread crumbs into another.

For this next step, you can do it one of two ways. You can painfully, time consumingly dip the small slices one by one into the egg whites and then into the breadcrumbs (speaking from experience here people)….or you can maximize your time and drop 6 or 7 slices into the bowl of egg whites and then transfer them to the bowl of breadcrumbs. I recommend the latter—much faster!

Put the zucchini on a baking sheet and pop them in the (now pre-heated) oven.

After setting your timer for 25 minutes (we don’t want those puppies to burn), put a quart of water on to boil and cook your pasta according to the directions.

Drain the pasta and mix it with 2 cups of tomato sauce and ½ cup of cheese in a 9”X13” pan.

Cover the pan with your now baked zucchini.

Now use the last 1 cup of tomato sauce to cover the zucchini and top with what is left of your cheese.

Put the pan in the oven for another 10 minutes, or until all the cheese is melted.

And that’s dinner! You can top it with parsley, oregano, basil, or whatever herb you like to make it pretty, or just serve it and eat it like I did.

I’d say enjoy the leftovers, but there won’t be any 🙂

Until next week!