zucchini casserole Archives - Good Food St. Louis

Zucchini Gratin Casserole: An Ode to Summer

August 21, 2020

Ina Garten Squash Gratin

With an abundance of zucchini in grocery stores, farmers’ markets, and home gardens, it’s time to pull out the casserole dishes and start slicing squash. And who better to call on for a recipe than Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa.

In her cookbook Barefoot in Paris, she offers one for Zucchini Gratin, a spin on a French dish that uses potatoes. Good move. Some recipes are versatile enough to work with a variety of fresh vegetables.

You’ll notice that the onions are cooked first and for about 20 minutes, just enough to get a bit of caramelization. That’s where the flavor comes in, so don’t short change that step.

More Decadent Than Ina’s

While Ina stripped much of the decadence from her recipe, I recall one from the ’60s that wreaked with artery-clogging goodness. Even so, the yellow squash recipe was a summertime delight. But when I looked recently, I couldn’t find my recipe anywhere. (It might come from having moved 6 times in the last two decades.) I could remember most of the ingredients—squash, onion, sour cream, carrots, cream of chicken soup, and water chestnuts all topped with a stuffing mix.

Google It!

I googled the ingredients and found a number of variations on the old church supper favorite. This one for Squash Casserole seemed the closest to what I remembered. In a moment of nostalgia, I baked it in my old, ceramic dish with the blue flower on the side. The one I used years ago.

When I pulled it from the oven, I took one spoonful and had a flashback to summertime in the Sixties. Oh, how I miss those simple, halcyon days of yore. A time before social distancing, when we could sit closely around the kitchen table and bemoan our cholesterol levels, while downing a buttery, sour cream-laced casserole.

Julia Child, the Saucy Chef

January 15, 2016

In 2000, during an appearance on Good Morning America, French-trained chef Julia Child assembled a simple zucchini casserole. It had some of the features of the classic Green Bean Casserole that’s served at Thanksgiving, but without the sour cream and mushroom soup.

The revered kitchen wizard had just published Julia’s Kitchen Wisdom and she displayed that wisdom with her creation of Zucchini au Gratin. (Video recipe here.)

Over the years, other cooks have tinkered with the simple, but tasty recipe. Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa, caps off her version with bread crumbs as well as cheese. A nice touch.

The “Mother Sauce”

Both versions include a velouté sauce, considered by famed 19th century Chef Auguste Escoffier to be one of the five “mother sauces.” Don’t let the fancy French name intimidate you. It’s basically making gravy.

Now that we can get zucchini year round, it’s easy to serve this tasty and elegant dish to family or for special occasions. Just be prepared for a mountain of zucchini when you shred 1-1/2 pounds for the recipe. It reduces to a more manageable amount when you compress and squeeze out the water. (Remove as much liquid from the zucchini as possible or the dish will be runny.)

Shallots are a member of the onion family, but formed more like garlic than onions. They are favored for their mild flavor and can be used in the same manner as onions.

Sprinkle with cheese and into the oven. The Barefoot Contessa adds both bread crumbs and cheese, which gives a nice topping when finished under the broiler.