I enjoyed reading the Wikipedia entry for casserole. My favorite line was “by the 1970s casseroles took on a less-than sophisticated image.” I would have to agree with this and realized that I rarely use this term. This recipe is doing it’s best to bring back sophistication (did it ever really have it?) to the word ‘casserole.’
The original recipe called for a cottage cheese and sour cream – I used ricotta in their place. I kept thinking this was like lasagna (swapping out the pasta for rice) which lead me to using ricotta cheese. Using both brown and wild rice gives it a nutty flavor. You can cook them separately but for ease try a blend such as Lundberg’s Wild Rice Blend.
All the flavors come together to make a lovely combination. And, it paired nicely with some thick grilled rosemary-garlic lamb chops.
Gluten-Free/Wheat-Free Note: This would be a great addition to a Thanksgiving meal – a good alternative to traditional stuffing.
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- 2 large eggs
- 1-1/2 cups (~ 12 ounces) part skim ricotta cheese
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- Sea salt
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 8 ounces cremini (baby portobellos) mushrooms, chopped
- 1 large yellow onion, finely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon chopped tarragon, plus 1 teaspoon for garnish
- 3 cups cooked (~ 1 cup uncooked rice) wild rice/brown rice, room temperature
- 5 ounces grated Gruyère cheese
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Coat a 8-1/2x11-inch oven-safe dish with olive oil.
- In large bowl, whisk eggs, ricotta cheese, mustard and ½ teaspoon salt.
- In large skillet over high heat, combine olive oil with a couple pinches salt, stir in chopped mushrooms and leave sitting for about 3-5 minutes. This allows the water in the mushrooms to evaporate.
- After about 5 minutes, stir mushrooms now and then for a couple more minutes until browned, then add onion and cook until translucent, about 3 minutes. Cook until the mixture is relatively dry.
- Stir in garlic and 1 tablespoon tarragon and cook for another minute. Remove skillet from heat.
- Add cooked rice to skillet and stir until combined.
- Add rice mixture to ricotta cheese mixture, stir until well combined and spread into prepared dishes.
- Sprinkle Gruyère cheese and cover with foil.
- Bake for 30 minutes, remove the foil, then bake for another 20 to 30 minutes until the top is colorful and the edges golden.
- Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon tarragon before serving.
* Don’t worry if you don’t have an 8-1/2x11-inch oven-safe dish, just use something close to it (it could be round or square). Ideally it would be smaller than a 9x13-inch dish.
* You can prepare this up to two days in advance and refrigerate it. Add 10 minutes to the initial cooking time.
Source: Adapted from Heidi Swanson’s Super Natural Every Day (2011)
Would cottage cheese be a good substitute for ricotta, which is a cheese I’m unable to digest?
Lisa – Yes! The original recipe actually called for cottage cheese (1 cup) and sour cream (1/2 cup) but I used 1-1/2 cups ricotta. I think you’d be fine with using all cottage cheese. Thanks for asking!
This casserole was absolutely delicious along with lamb, as my husband, Jeff, and I can confirm from NIcole and Ed’s wonderful dinner they prepared for us last weekend.
Mandy – Thank you for your sweet note and kind words! We’re so glad you liked it!
I read this recipe and thought it looks substantial enough to be a main dish. So I made it and served it with a side salad. Delicious!!! I rated it as a 4 star only because it was a little dry.
Susie – Glad you liked it and thank you for your feedback. I was careful to cook down the mushrooms and onions, but perhaps saving a bit of liquid is a good thought process.