4 Tbsp. butter, divided, room temperature
1 large onion, diced
3-4 garlic cloves, minced
1 Tbsp. olive oil
2 medium zucchini squash, thinly sliced
2 medium summer squash, thinly sliced
2 large russet potatoes, thinly sliced
3 tomatoes on the vine, thinly sliced
1 ½ tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried rosemary
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp fresh cracked black pepper
Dash crushed red pepper
½ cup grated parmesan cheese
1 cup mozzarella cheese
2 Tbsp. fresh chopped parsley (optional)
Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Use 1 Tbsp. of the butter and spread around a 9x13 baking dish.
Sauté the diced onion with the olive oil and remaining 3 Tbsp. of butter over medium-high heat for 5 minutes until the onion is translucent. Add the garlic and continue sautéing for 2 minutes until the garlic is fragrant. Turn off heat and set aside.
While the onion and garlic are cooking, slice the zucchini, summer squash and potatoes with a mandolin. You can use a knife but be careful because you want thin slices. I have 3 level settings on my mandolin and slice using the thickest or third option. Slice the tomato in as thin of slices as possible using a sharp knife (does not work using a mandolin).
Once all the veggies are sliced and prepped, start to assemble the casserole by arranging the squash, potatoes and tomatoes and stack vertically, in an alternating pattern (see pictures for reference). You should end up with about 3 rows of vegetables. Towards the end, I start shoving leftover vegetables in any space they can claim!
Pour the cooked onion, garlic and buttery mixture over the top of the all the sliced vegetables. Add the seasonings of thyme, rosemary, S&P, crushed red pepper.
Cover with foil and bake for 40 minutes. Remove from the oven, remove the foil and then add the grated parmesan and mozzarella cheeses. I love fresh mozzarella cheese but bagged shredded cheese works just fine. Sprinkle chopped fresh parsley on top. Return to the oven and continue to bake for 15-20 minutes until the cheese is golden brown.
Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes. Serve alongside your favorite protein like grilled chicken, smoked turkey breast, or even some summer sausage.
It's that time of year to start harvesting squash and tomatoes here in Michigan! If you're garden is overflowing like mine then this is the perfect recipe to put those garden fresh vegetables to use. I'm also pretty sure this is the recipe that made me start liking tomatoes. I just thought they took on this crazy delicious flavor with the herbs, cheeses and of course that garlic butter! Mmm.
I love making this dish for my husband and I and then we can eat it for dinner for several days in a row with different types of protein, or just for lunch all on it's own. It's not just delicious but it's also so pretty too!
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