I've always grown my own zucchini for as long as I can remember but in the past couple of years I've cut way back on a big garden with veggies and now concentrate on growing a wide variety of herbs and some tomatoes in pots. That's OK...it was getting to the point where at this time of year I did not want to see another zucchini!
My plan was foiled though when a neighbor brought me a bag of home grown zucchini, just fresh from her garden. I had already received two monster zucchini from another friend. Those I like to shred and freeze in two cup portions to use for zucchini bread in the winter; but for these perfect sized gifts I needed to reach no further than a tried and true recipe we have loved forever. Having a zucchini glut of your own? Try this easy side dish...perfect for a picnic too; it will be devoured, I promise.
This recipe is an oldie but goodie. It comes from a cookbook I love called 'The Artist in the Kitchen' from the St. Louis Art Museum and it was a fundraising cookbook published in 1977. I love old cookbooks but they would never pass muster today. No big huge glamour shots of every dish grace the pages; your imagination has to come into play. Still, I love everything I've made from this book and this recipe is an all time favorite. I had forgotten that I had already shared it on my blog...but that was 5 years ago and we won't even talk about the photo; it would have been better to have been like this cookbook and not had one!
The truth is that it's sort of a plain Jane. There aren't a lot of ingredients and it's simple to put together; is it even worthy of sharing? Oh yeah...it's that simplicity that helps to make it great; heck the topping of crumbs doesn't even have any extra butter to bind them but you won't mind. There is something magical about a sauce of butter, cream cheese and garlic that fits so perfectly with what is really a pretty bland little veggie; the crumb topping is a nice added texture. I had to stop testing it after eating half the dish (kidding) (no I'm not).
It can be hard to photograph a casserole dish. As much as I love this simple dish, it's not particularly beautiful. So I did throw some fresh from my garden tomatoes into the photo for a bit of color. I am not regretting planting those Early Girl tomatoes one bit even if they did get a late start. I've planted nothing but cherry tomatoes since I started gardening in pots and this year thought I would try one more variety and I love the results; even with a late start they have been worth the wait. I must have picked a dozen last night...poor me I have to eat some with every meal. :)
Have a safe and fun filled Labor Day; I'll be sitting here eating zucchini casserole, fresh corn, fresh tomatoes and fresh peaches and sobbing that summer is almost over. I won't miss the heat but I sure will miss fresh fruits and veggies. Now I'm wishing I had planted some zucchini; I want more!
This is the last post of our #SummerSoiree series for the Food Network featuring dishes perfect for a Labor Day get together. I'm having one; I'm actually hosting a baby shower on Sunday; we're sort of hoping there won't be a real labor day until after the party! Have a great weekend; enjoy some of these dishes from my friends!
