One-dish Recipes That Will Rock Your House! - Bobby Flay
When we think of the quintessential 1950s homemaker, we have to chuckle. Hurry, ladies! Rush and fluff the pillows, prepare his favorite drink, straighten your hair, and quiet down the kids—your husband is coming home from a hard day at work! Oh, how times have changed.
Casseroles may have become popular in the 1950s as a way to relieve women of kitchen drudgery, but they were also a response to a more active and social lifestyle.
In our kitchen, we celebrate the casserole dish any which way we can. To be completely honest, we have a fairly loose interpretation of what the casserole dish actually is. If it all goes in one dish, then it is a casserole.
Herb-Baked Caprese Tomato Stacks
This dish is so simply prepared, yet yields amazingly complex flavors. Sandy was inspired to make these tasty stacks from ingredients that seemed always to be on hand in her and Michael’s home. Because there are so few ingredients in this dish, it is imperative that your ingredients are quality. We also recommend that you take the time to make your bread crumbs from scratch, as it adds that extra something to the dish. And don’t worry about any extra bread crumbs getting stale; just store them in the freezer and they will stay fresh for months. If you find yourself with extra basil, don’t waste it! Use it to make some tasty pesto.
Makes 8 servings
- Cooking spray
- 3 medium tomatoes, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 8 1/4-inch-thick slices fresh mozzarella
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
- 1/3 cup seasoned bread crumbs
- 2 teaspoons unsalted butter, melted
1. Preheat the oven to 425°F. Coat a 9 x 13-inch casserole dish with cooking spray.
2. Arrange one layer of tomatoes (do not overlap) in the bottom of the casserole dish. Season the tomatoes with salt and pepper. Put a slice of fresh mozzarella on top of each tomato, then top each with basil. Top each stack with another slice of tomato, and season with salt and pepper.
3. Combine the bread crumbs and butter in a small bowl. Sprinkle the crumbs over the stacks.
4. Bake for 5 to 10 minutes or until the tomatoes are heated through, the bread crumbs are lightly browned, and the mozzarella just starts to melt. Serve hot.
Excerpted from The Casserole Queens Cookbook by Crystal Cook and Sandy Pollock Copyright © 2011 by Crystal Cook and Sandy Pollock . Excerpted by permission of Clarkson Potter, a division of Random House of Canada Limited.
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