Home-grown

You can't get any more local than home, right? We finally picked the monster zucchini out of the garden yesterday. I think we let it get so big just to see what would happen. Of course nothing happened... It just got about as big as Avery's arm.

I ended up making a casserole thingie with the zucchini:

• First, I sauted some fresh-pressed garlic and spring onions* in organic olive oil** for a few minutes.
• Then, I added some organic crushed tomatoes**, salt, pepper, oregano**, fresh basil* and let it simmer for about ten minutes.
• While the mixture was simmering, I sliced the zucchini into 1/4" discs. I had originally planned to make something like this, but there were, like, a gazillion slices by the time I was done cutting, so I had to improvise :o)
• I spooned the tomato mixture into a large, rectangle casserole dish and sunk a layer of zucchini into it, then another layer on top of that. I covered the dish and baked it at 375 for about 20 minutes.
• While the casserole was baking, I added about a cup of bread crumbs, a cup of romano/parmesan/mozzarella soy cheese blend** and some fresh chopped basil* to a bowl and stirred them together.
• After about 20 minutes, I uncovered the caserole and added the crummy, cheesey mixture and baked it about 10 more minutes. Once that was done, I sprinkled some cheese on top and broiled it for a couple minutes to melt.
  

* from Blooming Glen
** from Neshaminy Valley

Jason and I were on our way to a play at The Montgomery Theater by the time it was done, so we had to wait until we got home to try it. We had some as soon as we got home - it was deee-lish! We often share new recipes with our neighbors, Bob and Sue, so we brought over a dish over for their rating. They gave it a "deee-lish," as well :o)

Yay for our first homegrown meal!