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This comforting, tacky floor beef and zucchini casserole is a real one-pot dinner you possibly can throw collectively shortly, and it makes unbelievable leftovers. You’ll wish to make this scrumptious, home made consolation meals a everlasting a part of your meal plan.
Did you get up this morning with a bag of zucchini in your entrance porch out of your sneaky gardening neighbor? Hello, it’s me. I’m that neighbor, and I really feel zero guilt for “squashing” everybody on my avenue.
If you end up attempting to make use of up extra summer season squash, this floor beef and zucchini casserole is the one-pot dinner of your desires!
And whereas I like to recommend how a lot mozzarella and Parmesan so as to add to this recipe, everyone knows that cheese ought to really be measured along with your coronary heart.
For the marinara, store-bought is okay! Search for a jar that’s ~20 oz. And don’t overlook so as to add a teeny little bit of water to the empty jar, put the lid on, and shake it as much as get each final drop out and into your floor beef zucchini casserole.
You may additionally love to make use of our home made freezer spaghetti sauce on this recipe.
Take it from me – don’t skip the method of salting and urgent the zucchini between two clear towels whilst you make the sauce. This helps draw out moisture from the squash in order that your floor beef zucchini casserole doesn’t grow to be too watery.
Professional Ideas/Recipe Notes
- Thinly sliced zucchini works finest for this recipe. I used my mandoline to verify the slices are constantly the identical measurement.
- To chop down on dishes, use a dish that may go immediately from the range to the oven. One thing like a 4-quart Dutch oven or a braiser pan would work nice. When you don’t have one thing that can work, observe steps 1-7 within the printable recipe card under, after which switch to a deep 9×13 casserole dish to bake
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Preheat the oven to 350˚F.
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Thinly slice the zucchini and place the rounds on clear kitchen towels. Sprinkle evenly with sea salt.
1/4 tsp sea salt
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Lay a clear towel excessive of the zucchini slices and place one thing heavy (like a casserole dish or Dutch oven) excessive. Put aside.
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In a big frying pan, braiser pan, or Dutch oven, brown the bottom beef over medium warmth.
1 lb floor beef
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When the bottom beef is nearly absolutely cooked, add the garlic and onions and cook dinner for a further 1-2 minutes.
2 cloves garlic, 1/2 cup onion
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Drain any grease if wanted.
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Add the marinara sauce, basil, oregano, and slowly stir within the heavy cream (if utilizing). Permit the sauce to simmer for ~2 minutes.
2 1/2 cups ready marinara, 1 tsp dried basil, 1/4 cup heavy cream, 1/4 tsp dried oregano
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Take away ~two-thirds of the sauce from the pan and put it right into a bowl. Put aside.
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Prime the sauce left within the pan with half of the zucchini slices and sprinkle with half of the mozzarella.
3 cups zucchini, 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella (divided)
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Distribute the rest of the sauce over the zucchini and cheese.
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Prime that with the remaining zucchini, mozzarella, and all the Parmesan.
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan
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Bake at 350˚ for 25-Half-hour or till the highest of the cheese is frivolously browned and the sauce is effervescent.
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Permit it to relaxation for 5-10 minutes and serve.
- To chop down on dishes, use a dish that may go immediately from the range to oven. One thing like a 4-quart Dutch oven or a braiser pan would work nice. When you don’t have one thing that can work, observe steps 1-7 above, after which switch to a deep 9×13 casserole dish to bake.
Serving: 1cupEnergy: 289kcalCarbohydrates: 8gProtein: 19gFats: 21gSaturated Fats: 10gPolyunsaturated Fats: 1gMonounsaturated Fats: 8gTrans Fats: 1gLdl cholesterol: 70mgSodium: 639mgPotassium: 552mgFiber: 2gSugar: 5gVitamin A: 727IUVitamin C: 15mgCalcium: 221mgIron: 2mg
Diet data is robotically calculated, so ought to solely be used as an approximation.