Zucchini Tomato Casserole With Garlic And BasilEasy To Make - Vegan And Gluten Free

Makes a great side dish for the 4th of July!

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Garden Goodies
My tomatoes are starting to come in. I'm buried in zucchini. I just harvested and cured more than 40 heads of garlic and I have some lovely fresh basil too. It all ended up in this simple and super tasty casserole. I honestly think it's one of the yummiest things you can do with these ingredients.

Like a Lasagna but without the Carbs and Cheese
This dish is like making a lasagna but so much easier because you don't precook noodles or have 3 different cheeses to mess with. But the pesto-like sauce gives it so much flavor, it doesn't need anything else.

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Zucchini Tomato Casserole with Garlic and Fresh Basil
Vegan, Dairy Free, Gluten Free
[makes 4 servings]

Requires 9" x 11" casserole dish with cover. If you do not have a cover, you can tent with aluminum foil but make sure not to allow the foil to touch the tomatoes.

Ingredients
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil plus some for the pan
3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
3 cloves garlic, pressed
3 tablespoons vegetable broth
3 medium (fat) zucchini (2 lbs)
2 to 3 large tomatoes
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Make the pesto-like sauce by mixing 3 tablespoons of the olive oil with the basil, pressed garlic, and broth. Stir until well combined and set aside.

For the nicest presentation and easy serving, use zucchini that is the width of the pan. So if you are using a 9 by 11 inch pan, use a zucchini that, once cleaned and trimmed, will be 9 inches long.

Slice the zucchini in 1/4 inch slices. Slice the tomatoes thin also.

Coat the bottom of the pan with a little olive oil. Place a layer of zucchini on the bottom of the pan. Spread about 1/3rd of the basil garlic mixture over the zucchini.  Cover with a layer of tomatoes. Sprinkle a little salt and pepper over the tomatoes (not too much because there will be other layers.)

Repeat with another layer of zucchini, another 1/3rd of the basil garlic mixture, another layer of tomatoes, salt and pepper.

Repeat with the last layer of zucchini, some but not all of the remaining basil garlic mixture, and the rest of the tomatoes. Spoon the rest of the basil garlic mixture over the top layer of tomatoes. Salt and pepper the tomatoes if needed.

Ready to bake.

Cover and place in the preheated oven until the zucchini is fork tender, about 35 minutes. Remove the cover and bake another 10 minutes.

Serve as a side dish or over a grain as a light meal.

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