Momma always said eat your vegetables and with this yummy zucchini gratin recipe you can eat them and maybe get your kids to eat them too!
Most meals in our house follow the traditional meat, vegetables and occasionally a starch of some kind but sometimes we change things up. Meatless Monday! While the immediate response to the thought was not positive the dish received rave reviews! The hearty vegetables are so filling the meat was hardly missed which was probably because of the mushrooms mashed throughout the center portion.
The small hints of heat with the red pepper flakes are subtly hidden with the small amounts of cheese throughout. Since the cheddar has an extra sharp taste it doesn’t take much cheese to make an impact. If you have a picky eater on your hands this might be a great opportunity to sneak some of the mild vegetables which are rich in vitamins and nutrients you normally couldn’t bribe them to touch. 
- 2 tablespoons margarine or butter
- 1 medium onion, chopped (1/2 cup)
- 2 cups sliced zucchini
- 1 cup yellow squash
- 1 small carrot grated
- 1 container mini bella mushrooms shredded
- ¼ cup chicken broth/vegetable stock
- 1 egg
- ¾ cup fat-free (skim) milk
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 2 cloves of garlic minced
- 1 cup panko bread crumbs
- ½ cup shredded reduced-fat extra sharp white cheddar cheese (2 oz)
- Heat oven to 375°F. Spray 11x7-inch (2-quart) glass baking dish with cooking spray. In 12-inch nonstick skillet, melt 1 tablespoon butter over medium-high heat. Add onion; cook 2 minutes, stirring frequently, until onion is translucent. Add garlic.
- Stir in zucchini, carrots, mushrooms, and squash. Reduce heat to medium; cover and cook 9 to 11 minutes, stirring occasionally, until zucchini is tender. Remove from heat. While still in skillet, mash zucchini slightly with fork.
- In large bowl, beat egg, milk, red pepper flakes,salt and pepper with fork until well blended. Stir in zucchini mixture, ¾ cup of the panko bread crumbs and ¼ cup of the cheese. Spoon into baking dish.
- In small microwavable bowl, microwave remaining 1 tablespoon butter on High 15 to 20 seconds or until melted. Stir in remaining ¼ cup panko bread crumbs and ¼ cup cheese. Sprinkle evenly over zucchini mixture.
- Bake uncovered 25 to 30 minutes or until set and topping is golden brown. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.
Is the yellow squash sliced, too?
yes
Yes, I used the same food processor blade to do both the zucchini and squash. Before smashing the vegetables after the saute step, I did remove a portion of the zucchini to give it that gratin look. I hope that helps. Enjoy, let us know if you enjoyed the recipe!
Has anyone tried replacing the egg in this recipe with a chia or flax seed “egg”? Do you think it would bind the ingredients just as well? I am allergic to eggs, but I really want to try this recipe.
Thanks in advance 🙂
Oh this was so tasty! Even my boyfriend (who hates veggies) ate almost 1\2 of the pan. I have to admit that I used this as a guide…. I tweaked it for what I had on hand. I ended up adding just 2 tablespoons of grated Parmesan for extra cheese flavor. I used all zucchini, used the sauce from the pan not extra broth. I don’t like touching eggs so I used a flax seed “egg” and it worked great! I left out mushrooms too.