This tasty Mediterranean chickpea vegetable casserole is an easy hands-off vegetarian recipe. Just chop some vegetables and mozzarella, combine with the sauce ingredients and chickpeas, and bake until bubbly and gooey.
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⭐Why you’ll love it
- It’s incredibly easy to make (I used to make it at university all the time).
- It’s very hands-off.
- It’s really rich and tasty.
- It’s vegetarian (can easily be made vegan by removing the mozzarella).
- This recipe makes generous portions with just a few ingredients.
- It can be made ahead of time and freezes well.
- It’s surprisingly low-calorie!
You might also want to try my easy zucchini marinara if you have more zucchini to use up. If you love chickpeas, I’d suggest trying vegan potato stew with chickpeas.
🛒Ingredients and substitutions
Onion: I used yellow onion but you can use any type you prefer.
Zucchini: This gets nice and tender and isn’t mushy at all (I hate mushy zucchini). If you don’t like zucchini or don’t have any, you can substitute it with some other vegetables like chopped eggplant or potato.
Oregano: I use dried oregano in this recipe to give just a little bit of flavor (fresh is too overpowering). If you don’t like oregano or don’t have any you can omit it or use basil.
Black pepper: If you can’t freshly grind black pepper, substitute it with an eighth of a teaspoon of regular packaged ground pepper.
Garlic: This really makes the sauce sing. If you don’t like garlic then you could try omitting but it won’t taste as good. Don’t substitute with ground garlic as it has a completely different flavor profile.
Hot sauce (optional): Recommended but optional. One and a half teaspoons will give you a mild heat level, increase to two teaspoons for medium or over two and a half for hot. Use a vinegar-based hot sauce like Tabasco or Frank’s Red Hot sauce.
Red wine: I use regular cooking wine but you can use any red wine you like. Don’t worry about the alcohol in the sauce, as it’s just a cup between six servings, and as it bubbles away for an hour most of it will burn off. You can substitute with alcohol-free red wine or low-alcohol wine if needed.
Mozzarella: Use full-fat mozzarella only, low-fat releases a lot of milky liquid into the dish. Drained crumbled feta makes for a tasty substitute. For vegans, you can omit or substitute with vegan cheese.
👩🍳How to make it
Step 1: Preheat your oven to 410º F (210ºC). Drain the mozzarella and chop, quarter and slice the zucchini, peel the onion and garlic, and finely chop. Add to a 5-quart casserole dish along with the chickpeas and all the other ingredients.
Step 2: Mix very well and place in the preheated oven. Leave uncovered to cook for from 50 minutes to one hour or until the sauce is nice and thick and the onions are tender. Remove, allow to cool slightly, and serve hot.
💡Expert tips
- Make sure to chop the onion finely. As the onion isn’t fried or precooked, chopping it finely is important to help it cook faster and get more oniony flavor into the sauce.
- You can also zap your chopped onions in the microwave for two minutes on high to par-cook them and make sure they are really soft in the final cooked casserole.
- To prepare this chickpea goodness ahead of time, just mix up the ingredients, cover the casserole dish, leave in the fridge for up to 48 hours, and bake before serving.
- Don’t mix up the chickpea casserole before serving, as it will make the mozzarella stringy when what you want is to find chewy delicious chunks of it while eating it.
🍽️Serving suggestions
This casserole can be served over mashed potatoes, with pasta or rice, but I highly recommend serving it with steamed couscous.
Serve it to one side of the couscous (or the couscous will absorb all the yummy sauce and become mushy).
❄️Storage
This dish is a great dish to make ahead of time, just keep it in the oven at a low temperature to make sure it stays hot, or the mozzarella will congeal.
The casserole can be frozen before cooking. Just assemble it, tightly cover it, and freeze. Then, defrost before baking. I’d advise leaving the dish out at room temperature once fully defrosted before baking to prevent the Pyrex or ceramic cracking from temperature change.
Leftovers can be stored tightly covered in the fridge for up to five days, and in the freezer for up to three months.
Reheat the casserole in the microwave or oven until it’s piping hot and the mozzarella has melted again.
❓Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Yes. Chickpeas, along with other legumes such as lentils, are considered a staple of the Mediterranean diet.
Soaking chickpeas will improve their digestibility and shorten the cooking time. They are best cooked in a pressure cooker or a Dutch oven along with some aromatics.
Savory casseroles are usually made with a sauce, cheese, some starchy ingredients, protein, and vegetables, although it’s not a hard and fast rule.
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📖 Recipe
Mediterranean Chickpea Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 zucchini large, about 17.5 oz/500g
- 9 oz. fresh mozzarella full-fat
- 1 onion large
- 6 cloves garlic pick large ones
- 2½ cups cooked chickpeas 14 oz/400g
- 1 cup red wine
- 35 oz canned crushed tomatoes 1 kilo
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 Tablespoon dried oregano
- 1½ teaspoons hot sauce optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 410ºF (210ºC). Quarter the zucchini lengthwise and chop. Drain and chop mozzarella into one-inch pieces. Peel and finely chop onion and garlic. Add everything to a 13 by 9 by 3 inch or 5-quart baking dish.
- Add all the ingredients to the baking or casserole dish. Mix well.
- Place in the middle of the oven and bake for between fifty minutes to an hour. The casserole is done when the onions are cooked and the top is nice and thick.
- Remove and allow to cool for five-ten minutes before serving. Enjoy!
Notes
- Make sure to chop the onion finely or it will take even longer to cook this casserole.
- 1½ teaspoons of hot sauce for a mild dish, 2 for medium-spicy, and 2½ or over for hot. Use a vinegar-based hot sauce.
- This dish can be assembled, covered, and refrigerated for up to 48 hours before baking.
- Don’t mix up the chickpea casserole before serving or you’ll make the mozzarella stringy.
- Serve with a side of couscous for the tastiest combination, but it’s also lovely over pasta, rice, or mashed potatoes.
- Leftovers can be stored tightly covered in the fridge for up to five days, or in the freezer for up to three months.
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