Green Bean Casserole

Traditionally, Green Bean Casserole uses cream of mushroom soup and fried onions as a crispy topping. My version is based off the original idea however I've obviously used fresh mushrooms, scratch cream sauce, and a Parmesan & bread crumb mixture for the topping.

Why Bread crumbs? There are 2 main reasons I decided to try the dish with the breadcrumb mixture versus the fried onions;

1. Flavour. Crispy onions taste great but as far as contributing flavours my topping goes a little further. The bread crumbs and Parmesan both contribute flavour to the overall dish as well as the olive oil and coat the beans so beautifully.

AND

2. Saving the sauce! This is also a great idea if your sauce starts off a bit runnier than you had anticipated. Crumbs that sink into the dish will actually help thicken the sauce as they cook.

Enjoy the dish in its traditional variety as well as mine!

Green Bean Casserole


Prep Time: 10 Min

Cook Time: 25 – 30 Min

 

1. Bring a large saucepan filled with cold water to a boil on medium high heat. Season with sea salt. Remove excess stems from beans and add to boiling water. Blanch 3 minutes, strain and rinse with cold water.

 

1. In a large frying pan, melt 1 tbsp. of unsalted butter on medium low heat. Add the shallots and fry 3 minutes before adding the mushrooms. Continue frying 5 minutes stirring often to avoid burning the shallots.

 

1. Remove the leaves of thyme from the stem and add to the mushrooms along with a good pinch of sea salt and ¼ tsp. Black Pepper. Add the 2nd tbsp. butter to the pan and stir to combine. Sprinkle the flour in over the entire dish continuing to stir. Continue frying another 2 minutes before slowly stirring in the cold milk followed by the heavy cream. Allow the creamy mix to bubble and thicken for 3 minutes stirring fairly often.

 

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F

 

1. In a small mixing bowl, combine the crumbs / parmesan and whisk the EVOO in slowly.

 

1. In a 1 ½ qt. baking dish, add the green beans and season with a pinch of sea salt. Pour the creamy mushroom mixture over the beans attempting to cover them all entirely. Sprinkle the crumbs over the dish.

 

1. Bake uncovered 20 – 25 min before setting to BROIL 500 F and browning the crumbs. Keep a close eye as they will go from brown to burnt in seconds. Remove from oven and set on a cooling rack.

 

1. Sprinkle with fresh parsley and serve.

 

                     Grocery List

• 4 C fresh Green Beans
• 1 Shallot, diced
• 2 Tbsp. Unsalted Butter
• 1 Tbsp. (heaping) AP Flour
• 1 C 2% Milk
• 2 Tbsp. Heavy Cream
• 3 Sprigs fresh Thyme
• 227g pkg. fresh Button Mushrooms, quartered
• Sea Salt / Black Pepper

 
 

• ¼ C Bread Crumbs
• 1 Tbsp. Parmesan Cheese, grated
• 1 ½ Tbsp. EVOO