Recipe Background
Momma always wanted us to eat our vegetables and worked for a long time to make vegetables appealing to us. What she created was a dish that we still love whenever we want to make our greens exciting: Momma's Love Casserole. This refreshing broccoli and hearty mushroom casserole is just loaded with all the things to make veggies cool: melty cheese, buttery crunchy breadcrumbs, and tender rice! Savory and scrumptious, Momma's Love Casserole really does taste like love!
Momma always wanted us to eat our vegetables and worked for a long time to make vegetables appealing to us. What she created was a dish that we still love whenever we want to make our greens exciting: Momma's Love Casserole. This refreshing broccoli and hearty mushroom casserole is just loaded with all the things to make veggies cool: melty cheese, buttery crunchy breadcrumbs, and tender rice! Savory and scrumptious, Momma's Love Casserole really does taste like love!
Ingredients
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter divided
- 1 cup panko breadcrumbs
- 2 cups extra-sharp cheddar cheese shredded and divided
- 3 cups reduced-sodium fat-free chicken broth
- 2 cups milk
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 fresh thyme sprig
- 2 cups onion chopped
- 1/2 cup celery diced
- 1 (8-ounce) package sliced cremini mushrooms
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt divided
- black pepper to taste
- ground red pepper to taste
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups long-grain rice
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg freshly grated
- 3 cups fresh broccoli florets
- 1/4 cup water
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter.
- Combine the melted butter with the panko breadcrumbs and 1 cup of the cheddar, tossing to coat.
- In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, combine the broth, the milk, the bay leaf, and the thyme sprig.
- Bring the mixture to a simmer then reduce the heat to low.
- Cover the saucepan and keep the mixture warm until ready to use.
- In a large, shallow Dutch oven or an ovenproof skillet over medium heat, melt the remaining butter.
- Add the onion and the celery to the melted butter and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is lightly browned, about 3-5 minutes.
- Add the mushrooms, 1/2 teaspoon of the kosher salt, the black pepper, and the red pepper to the Dutch oven.
- Cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms are tender, about 3-5 minutes.
- Add the garlic to the mushroom mixture and cook until fragrant, about 45 seconds.
- Stir the flour into the mushroom mixture until combined. Don't worry if the mixture seems dry.
- Remove and discard the bay leaf and the thyme sprig from the broth mixture.
- Gradually stir the broth mixture into the mushroom mixture.
- Add the remaining cheese into the broth and mushroom mixture and stir until well-blended and smooth.
- Stir in the rice, the sour cream, the mayo, and the nutmeg.
- Cover the Dutch oven with a tight-fitting lid.
- Bake until the rice is tender and the liquid is absorbed, about 25-30 minutes.
- Transfer the Dutch over from the oven.
- Turn on the broiler.
- In a microwave-safe bowl, combine the broccoli, the water, and the remaining salt.
- Cover the bowl and microwave until the broccoli is tender and bright green, about 2 minutes on high power.
- Drain the broccoli and pat it dry.
- Stir the broccoli into the rice mixture in the Dutch oven.
- Sprinkle the breadcrumb mixture over the broccoli mixture.
- Place the Dutch oven on the middle oven rack and broil until the topping is golden-brown, about 2-3 minutes.
- Let the casserole stand for 5 minutes.
- Serve.
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