Vegetable Pie with a Zucchini Crust
Here is another recipe my friend Lori made for us last weekend. This vegetable pie was easy to make and tasted so fantastic! We all really, really loved it. I look forward to adapting this recipe to work with whatever vegetables and cheese I have on hand. Thanks for another tasty recipe, Lori!
Vegetable Pie with a Zucchini Crust:
Ingredients:
- 4 zucchini, shredded and squeezed VERY dry with paper towels, (about 3 cups)
- 2 eggs
- 2 1/2 cups of mozzarella, divided
- 2 tomatoes, diced
- 1 green pepper, diced
- 4 oz of mushrooms, sliced
- 2 green onions, chopped
- 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese, shredded
- 4 basil leaves, chopped
- Dried oregano, to taste
How to Make Vegetable Pie with a Zucchini Crust
After you grate the zucchini, squeeze it REALLY DRY with a few paper towels or dishrags, removing as MUCH moisture as possible.
Combine the zucchini with the eggs and 2 cups of mozzarella. Push the zucchini firmly into the casserole dish, forming a crust. Season with sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, if desired. Bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes.
After the zucchini has baked, layer the casserole with green pepper, mushrooms, green onions, tomatoes, fresh basil, and finally top it with the remaining 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese and the Parmesan cheese. Sprinkle the top with dried oregano, to taste.
Place into the oven and bake uncovered for 25 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes before serving. Enjoy.
Click here for a printable version of this recipe – For the Love of Cooking.net
Photos by For the Love of Cooking.net Recipe by Lori Smith
this is also going on my to cook list over the weekend! this looks like heaven and soooo looking forward spring/summer soon to be zucchini central with the weather turning!
My goodness, what a total disaster!
I made this just as you sad, and my zucchini "crust" was liquid after baking it!!!! No size was specified for the "casserole" dish.
I patted and rolled the zucchini to make sure it was dry.
Has anyone really TRIED this recipe? Something is radically wrong with the instructions.
I was so anxious to try
Don’t be rude. Maybe you did something wrong. Just maybe.
You should roll up the grated zucchini in an old clean towel and really wring it then you should have no problem:0)
Zucchini has a LOT of water in it so if you don’t blot it a LOT to get ALL the water out of it, the bottom layer will not set up as it should. It is not just a “pat dry” as the original instructions say and that is unfortunate. The directions should have been more explicit.
Calls for 4 zucchini, what does that tell me, some are very large and some are small. Depends on when we pick them. So about how many cups of it do I need. Also depends on what size casserole dish is used.
Rosie,
The recipe has been corrected to reflect 3 cups of shredded zucchini. I used a 6 x 11 casserole dish, as pictured.
Pam
Anonymous,
I am sorry your dish didn't turn out well. It is important to make sure you get the zucchini as dry as possible. When my friend made this it turned out lovely it was not too wet.
Pam
This was fantastic. The ingredients combine so well to make it so flavorful .
I ADORE this recipe–props to your friend. My boyfriend always requests this for dinner. I try to make it a little more hearty by adding frozen corn, diced carrots, chopped broccoli, garlic and a few more spices. Its great to just dump whatever veggies are left in the fridge onto the zucchini.
I do have a question, though. I hate wasting all of those paper towels when trying to absorb the dampness from the zucchini. Generally, I’ll try to squeeze as much moisture as I can through a colander and then squeeze it through paper towels, but I feel like I’m still using up about half a roll. Any eco-friendly suggestions/tips?
Catherine,
I am so glad you like this dish. I also hate wasting so many paper towels. I have used regular dish rags in the past and they have worked just fine.
I hope this helps.
Cheers,
Pam
Hi just use an old clean towel . Works great. I use them to wring out spinach too:0)
Hi there! Your recipe sounds great! For the gal who’s crust came out too moist here are 2 hints. *Larger zucchini usually contain more moisture, small zucchini tend to be dryer. I suggest spreading your zucchini out on a sheet pan on a paper towel or parchment and letting it dry for 30 minutes or more if after that it is still dry mix a few tablespoons of flour to soak up the excess moisture. Good luck 🙂
Zucchini always should be salted and drained before using. For this recipe the zucchini can be sliced, put in a colander, salted lightly, left to drain the moisture from zucchini, then pat the slices very well to remove salt and chop into a small dice size. Then follow with recipe. All zucchini works best if drained for about 30 minutes.
To get the excess water off the zucchini, I grated it and then let it sit in a colander for about 30 min, then I firmly pressed on it to get out more liquid, then I dumped it on two smooth, clean kitchen towels (so it was a double layer), folded it in half, and then used a rolling pin to firmly press out more water. Worked quite well! Turned out delicious!
Hi! We’ve made this a few times now and really love this recipe. I’m thinking of making it for Christmas Day– do you think it would be ok to make ahead?
Bethany,
I have honestly never tried so I have no idea how it would turn out. If you do try it, please let me know how it goes.
Cheers,
Pam