Zucchini-Sausage Casserole

I love the concept of 'one-dish' cooking (that's probably why I have not one, but two slow cookers in my cupboard!), so when I saw a magazine by Better Homes and Gardens entitled 'One-Pan Recipes' at the grocery store the other day, you can bet I was leaning over my trolley to grab it from that shelf they put deliberately alongside the till, just for that impulse buyer (ie: me :o)

I do have one small criticism about this first recipe that I tried from the magazine, although maybe that's my own pre-conceived notions about what 'one-pan' really means.  For me, like most of my slow cooker recipes, I just want to throw everything into the dish, pop on the lid, turn it on, and leave it - and ultimately (apart from the plates/dishes I serve it in), I only have the one dish to wash up.  With this zucchini dish, aside from the dish I baked it in, I also had another two bowls and a skillet - that's just me though!! :o)

I altered the quantities of ingredients just a little and added garlic (only because I use garlic in as many dishes as I can), just for my own personal taste.

Zucchini-Sausage Casserole
serves 4

500g sausage meat (I used italian sausage, and just took the meat out of the skins)
1 tsp dried garlic (or 1 large clove, chopped)
1 medium zucchini
1 (10.75 oz) can condensed chicken soup
3 Tbs sour cream
salt and pepper
1 package Stove-Top stuffing mix
1 Tbs butter, melted

• preheat oven to 350 F.
• lightly grease a 13" x 8" deep dish and set aside.
• in a bowl, empty the stuffing mix and mix with the melted butter until well combined; set aside.
• in a large skillet, cook the sausage and garlic over medium heat until the meat is browned; drain off any fat.
• meanwhile, half the zucchini lengthwise and slice crosswise into 1/4 inch pieces.
• add the zucchini to the sausage in the skillet, and fry slightly until beginning to colour.
• in a small bowl combine the chicken soup and sour cream; stir into the sausage mixture.
• spoon half of the stuffing mixture into the prepared baking dish.
• spread sausage mixture over the stuffing in the dish, and spoon the remaining stuffing mix evenly over the top.
• cover with foil and bake until heated through - about 30 minutes.

 Zucchini-Sausage Casserole ingredients

 greased baking dish, stuffing topping and chicken soup mix.

I didn't have any bulk sausage meat, but just take the skins off of your favourite sausage and that works great.

don't slice the zucchini too thinly - you want them to still have a little 'bite' to them once they're cooked.

I didn't saute the zucchinis for very long, just enough to get a little colour.

add the chicken soup/sour cream mixture

spread half of the stuffing mix on the bottom, then the sausage and then remainder of the stuffing to make a crispy topping.

I popped a quick dish of roasted tomatoes in the oven alongside.

(just half some cherry tomatoes and sprinkle with a little salt, pepper and italian seasoning - roast at the same temperature and same time as the zucchini-sausage casserole.)

 simple and tasty.