Italian Zucchini Casserole

Zucchini is such a great Summer vegetable and when it starts showing up in the garden, you can be sure a bunch more will follow. This Italian Zucchini Casserole is a great and tasty way to make use of your garden bounty or just enjoy some great zucchini. This is an easy casserole dish that celebrates fresh vegetables and can be on your dinner table in just under an hour. Try out my Italian Zucchini Casserole today.

Italian Zucchini Casserole Summary

This recipe has four components. First, the star of the show is the zucchini. Chopped up zucchinis make the dish. We cut these up into bite-sized morsels and they are cooked in the oven with the rest of the ingredients. 

Second, macaroni noodles. These are almost cooked per the package instructions. We subtract one minute of time from cooking the noodles, as they will be baked in the oven and complete cooking there. 

Third, we add our sauce. We are making a mornay sauce that is made with mozzarella cheese and then mixed in. While the zucchini is the star, this sauce is a close second and helps bring the entire dish together.

The first three ingredients are mixed together in a casserole dish and then the fourth component tops it off. We add a mixture of Italian breadcrumbs and mozzarella to top it off. This topping mixture helps bring a little crunch and more flavor to the dish.

Then, we add it all to the oven and let it bake! You might use a few pots and pans with this recipe, but it really is simple and a short 30-minute bake finishes this recipe off.

Zucchini Size

The recipe calls for three small zucchini. If you have spent time in a garden, you know how gigantic a zucchini can get. You don’t want anything close to the monsters that can be pulled out of a garden. We are using zucchini that are about the size of a normal cucumber. Perhaps 6-8 inches long and they don’t need to be that thick

Ultimately, this is going to be a little bit of a visual exercise for you. Use what you want to eat, knowing that this recipe is four servings. Don’t use the monster zucchinis and use the smaller ones!

Mornay Sauce for Casserole

We make a basic mornay sauce, but use mozzarella cheese instead of gruyere and parmesan. The sauce is very simple to make and you can use it for so much more than this recipe. We have used similar sauces for our Classic Cauliflower Au Gratin recipe and our Easy Macaroni and Cheese recipe.

The technique is very simple. Melt some butter in a saucepan and then stir in some flour to make a paste-like substance. Mix in whole milk and stir to make sure the dairy doesn’t scorch on the bottom of the pan. We are heating the sauce at medium-high at this point and continuing to stir. About the time that the mixture starts to bubble, you should notice it starting to thicken. 

It will become a thick sauce at this point and you can stir in the cheese. We are using mozzarella, but other cheeses will work. The cheese will melt into the sauce and cause it to thicken even more and give it that nice cheesy flavor.

Once thickened, remove from heat and you can mix in seasoning. I mix in salt, pepper, and just a dash of cayenne. You could add other seasonings if you want to experiment.

Baking The Casserole

After we cook the noodles and sauce, we mix most of the ingredients together and then add to a casserole dish. I use a deep 2.5 quart Corningware Casserole dish [AFFILIATE LINK]. I recommend the deeper casserole dish, as this is quite the bulky dish. Between the noodles and zucchini, this recipe is quite substantive. 

After the mixed ingredients are added to the casserole dish, we add the remaining cheese and Italian Bread Crumbs to the top. While I am using Progresso’s Italian Breadcrumbs in this dish, you could also go all out and make your own breadcrumbs. 

Thirty minutes in the oven and you will have a tasty Italian Zucchini Casserole ready to go! A delicious and easy dinner.

Italian Zucchini Casserole Tips

• Use your best judgment on zucchini sizes, but I used small zucchinis in my recipe. 
• The sauce by itself is a bit powerful in terms of salt and pepper, but once it is mixed with the noodles and zucchini, it is balanced. That said, add to your taste.
• Use a deeper casserole dish for the best results.
• When making the sauce, make sure to continue stirring to prevent scalding.

Products Used in this Recipe

• 2.5 Quart Casserole Dish

Did you make this recipe?

Awesome! Let me know how it went in the comments area below and leave a rating. It is always great to see someone try out my recipes and I love to get feedback. If you liked it, also consider sharing it on your Pinterest or Facebook so other people can enjoy the love!

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