Zucchini Breakfast Casserole

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.

From the recipe archive, updated, first posted 2009!

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)
• 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.

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