[jhunter90]

I am preparing a casserole of sliced zucchini layered with diced tomatos with garlic and basil, parmesan and fontina chesses, and bread crumbs. It is an excellent combination of flavors but it releases way too much liquid. It is to go with chicken piccata for a large (80+) party and it neds to be easy to portion like lasagna but the liquid prevents it from binding. I thought about using cream or eggs but I am working with a very limited kitchen. I can't simmer in a sauce, I really just need to put the ingredients in a pan and in the oven. Any suggestions are welcome. Thanks

[Suzanne]

You can toss the zucchini slices with salt and leave them in colanders to drain for a while. That will help them disgorge some of their extra water. Then rinse (or not, if you only used a little salt; but then don't use any more salt in the recipe), pat dry, and make your casserole. You can do the disgorging while doing other prep, to save time.

[Mezzaluna]

Here is my recipe. The zucchini and eggplant are roasted briefly in the oven and so they're not so wet.

Ann’s Summer Vegetable Gratin

3 small Japanese eggplants or one large regular one
3 medium sized zucchini
8 large Roma tomatoes
2 balls of fresh mozzarella cheese
½ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
1 cup melting cheeses: fontina, mozzarella, asiago, etc. (a mix is nice)
Salt and pepper
Olive oil
Italian herb mix (dried)- rosemary, oregano, basil, etc. (I use Penzey’s)

Set the oven to 425.

Use a glass or ceramic baking dish about 13X9 inches. Give the dish a very light coating of olive oil.

Slice the eggplants into slices about ½” thick.
Slice the zucchini on the diagonal into ½” thick slices.
Lay them on a no-stick or foil-covered baking sheet which is lightly oiled. Brush the vegetable slices very lightly with olive oil, then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake five minutes, turn them, and bake five more minutes.

Slice the tomatoes into1/2” thick slices.
Slice the mozzarella into ½” thick slices, then cut them in half. (I cut them on a slant.)

When the zucchini and eggplant are out of the oven, cut the zucchini slices in half. If the eggplant slices are about the same dimensions, leave the slices whole.

ASSEMBLE THE GRATIN

Lay slices of eggplant at one end of the pan, slanted slightly up the end of the pan. Next lay tomato slices, cheese slices, and finally zucchini slices, overlapping the row above.

Fill the pan row by row. You can push the rows gently towards the end so you can fit all the vegetables in. End with a row of cheese. You may need to slice the second ball of cheese to finish the pan.

Sprinkle the vegetables with the herbs, then with the parmesan cheese, then the melting cheese(s). Bake uncovered at 425 for 20 minutes, then lower the temperature to 350 and bake for 50 minutes more.

This is good bubbly hot, or at room temperature.