Magic Greek Zucchini Casserole

A meaty summer casserole with enticing Mediterranean flavors, this casserole starts with zucchini and quinoa (or rice), a richly spiced meaty tomato sauce and a thick fluffy layer of cheesy goodness. The “magic” of this casserole is that the water from the zucchini cooks the grain, so no squeezing out the excess water! (I used quinoa as my “grain”, but rice works too.)

I’m SO smitten with this casserole. The flavor of the richly seasoned meat sauce along with the nutty quinoa and zucchini are totally addictive and the fluffy cheesy bechamel topping makes the perfect creamy counterpoint. It makes my mouth water just thinking about it! I made it for an outdoor (social distancing) gathering with friends we had last weekend and everyone there loved it too. Fortunately, there were leftovers I brought home and munched on every day this week. I’ve got just one piece left that I’ll enjoy today … but I’m totally tempted to make it again so I can continue to enjoy this masterpiece.

How did this recipe come about?

A long time ago, I made a zucchini rice casserole where the water in the zucchini cooked the rice as the casserole baked. It took extra time to bake, but saved the time and effort of cooking the rice and squeezing the water out of the zucchini to keep the casserole from being watery. THIS to me was how it should be. I often look at zucchini recipes and I’m just amazed at how much trouble we go through to remove the water from the zucchini. Why not use that water instead?

I never blogged that recipe (because I took no pictures!), but I DID save my draft recipe on my blog and I was super excited to find it again when I was gifted some zucchini from my mom and dad and suddenly had the urge to do a riff on my favorite Greek casserole: Moussaka. Moussaka usually features eggplant, which is roasted before it goes into the casserole. You can do the same with zucchini, of course, but what if you wanted to skip that extra step? How would you DO that without resulting in a watery mess?

You simply add something to the casserole to absorb that water. I used quinoa in my casserole because I just love the nutty flavor and the nutrition benefits it offers. Quinoa is high in fiber and protein and rich in many of the minerals and nutrients that fuel your body like manganese, magnesium, and zinch.

Do I have to rinse the quinoa?

If you’re using quinoa, there’s really no need to rinse it beforehand because all quinoa in the US is pre-rinsed. Many recipes tell you to do that, but it’s totally un-necessary.

But if you don’t have quinoa, you can substitute rice.

What kind of rice to use?

If you decide to use rice in this recipe, (unless you want to wait FOREVER for it to cook), you should use a white rice. Plain long-grain white rice will work, or you can add more flavor by using basmati or jasmine rice.

What kind of meat is best?

I used grass-fed seasoned lamb that was given to me by my good friend Blake at  Farm Solutions, but you could use grass-fed beef too. The diet of the animal really does affect the nutrition in the meat. Grass-fed lamb and beef are both great for a heart healthy diet. However, in a pinch, you can certainly use another lean ground meat.

Can this casserole be vegetarian?

Turn this into a marvelous vegetarian casserole by using 1 lb. sauteed mushrooms in place of the meat.

Can I use a store-bought sauce?

The homemade meat sauce is really good and sooo full of those marvelous Mediterranean flavors, but to save some time and effort, you could spice up a store-bought pasta sauce. You’ll want to choose a nice thick sauce.

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