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Simply Recipes

Hey guys, sorry for the late posting today. My editor, Kathy Lu, is out of town and I am filling in for her and have been buried under proofs until now. Does anyone have a tiny violin they could play for me? Ha!

Kathy is back tomorrow, so I promise to inundate you with foodie happenings then. For now, however, I'm going to pass along a recipe that caught my eye today. It does look like an awesome recipe, though -- it's for zucchini breakfast casserole. Might sound odd at first, but it contains eggs, zucchini, tomato, basil and cheese -- perfect for highlighting the fruits of the July and August harvest.

Zucchini Breakfast Casserole

Ingredients:

6-8 eggs
1 cup ricotta cheese
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp. Tabasco sauce or other hot chili sauce
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
3 cups grated zucchini (from 2-3 fresh zucchinis)
1 1/2 cups chopped plum tomatoes (from 4-5 fresh tomatoes),
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.

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. In a large bowl beat the eggs. Add the ricotta and beat until smooth. Mix in the grated Parmesan cheese, Tabasco, salt and pepper.

2. Prepare the vegetables and bread. Once you chop the tomatoes, squeeze excess moisture out of them by pressing them in a sieve, or wrapping in paper towels and squeezing. Add the tomatoes, basil, and zucchini to the egg mixture. Moisten the bread cubes with a little water then squeeze out any excess moisture using paper towels. Mix the bread cubes into the egg mixture.

3. Coat the bottom and sides of a 9x13 baking dish generously with olive oil. Pour the egg vegetable mixture into the baking pan and even it out in the pan. Place in the middle rack of the oven. Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. The casserole should puff up and brown lightly. If it hasn't after 30 minutes at 350, increase the heat to 425 degrees and cook for 5-10 minutes further. Remove from oven and let cool on a rack for 10 minutes before cutting into squares to serve.

Makes 6-8 portions.

Source: Simply Recipes