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.

Rice and Mushroom Casserole

 

4.5 from 2 reviews
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Recipe type: Side
Author:
Serves: 6 to 8
Ingredients
  • 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
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
  2. Coat a 8-1/2x11-inch oven-safe dish with olive oil.
  3. In large bowl, whisk eggs, ricotta cheese, mustard and ½ teaspoon salt.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. Stir in garlic and 1 tablespoon tarragon and cook for another minute. Remove skillet from heat.
  7. Add cooked rice to skillet and stir until combined.
  8. Add rice mixture to ricotta cheese mixture, stir until well combined and spread into prepared dishes.
  9. Sprinkle Gruyère cheese and cover with foil.
  10. Bake for 30 minutes, remove the foil, then bake for another 20 to 30 minutes until the top is colorful and the edges golden.
  11. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon tarragon before serving.
Notes
* I used Lundberg’s Wild Rice Blend. Any wild rice blend will work – just adjust the cooking time according to the package directions.
* 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)