Super Mom Hacks

Meatless Monday Recipe: Minestrone Casserole Bake

The Perfect Winter Warm-Up Comfort Food

Does your family do Meatless Mondays? Eating a more plant-based diet can help your family save money while conserving natural resources. While we don’t do Meatless Mondays every week (or always on Monday), I try to do them at least a few times per month. Today’s recipe, Minestrone Casserole Bake, is a Meatless Monday recipe I invented a few weeks ago, and have been tweaking ever since.

This Minestrone Casserole Bake derives from a tomato casserole recipe that Kimmie loves and Essie could do without. When I started experimenting with transforming this dish from a side into a main course, Essie loved the results – but now Kimmie wasn’t so keen on it! In the recipe’s final form shown here, though, BOTH girls love the taste and eat it up. And Dear Hubby had seconds, another good sign that this Meatless Monday recipe is a winner.

So if you’re looking for a new Meatless Monday recipe, or just a new comfort-food meal for cold winter days that’s budget-friendly, this recipe has you covered.

Whether you're looking for a new Meatless Monday recipe idea or just some winter warm-up comfort food, this Minestrone Casserole Bake is perfectly yummy.

Meatless Monday Recipe: Minestrone Casserole Bake

Serves 4-6 as a one-course meal, or 6-8 if you add a vegetable side and/or salad

What you need:

*While these aren’t strictly necessary, they do add a little extra flavor to the casserole.

The basic idea:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray inside of baking dish with nonstick cooking spray

2. Pour a single layer of uncooked couscous over the bottom of the baking dish. Open one can of beans and carefully pour the contents, liquid and all, over the couscous; use a spoon to carefully spread the beans into a single layer over the uncooked pasta.

3. Slice the tomatoes, one at a time, into slices approximately 1/4 inch thick. (It’s best to just slice each one as you need it, so you don’t end up with a bunch of extra slices.) Use a mandoline to make super-thin slices of the zucchini, or slice it as thin as you can by hand.

4. Add a layer of tomato slices on top of the beans. Sprinkle the tomatoes lightly with bread crumbs, then with basil. Top with a layer of the zucchini slices.

5. Repeat each layer in order. Top with a sprinkling of shredded cheese, a little more basil, and salt/pepper to taste.

6. Drizzle the butter evenly over the whole casserole. Carefully add a little water to the side of the casserole dish as needed, until the liquid level inside the dish is higher than the top layer of couscous.

7. Place on a baking sheet (to prevent oven spills, in case it bubbles over) and bake for 30-45 minutes, or until bubbling at edges and cooked through. (Deeper layers will require a longer cooking time.)

8. Top with additional cheese, if you like, and serve hot.

Mix it up:


 

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