40 Meatless Meals - Swiss Linguine Casserole

Ingredients for the crust:
¼ cup butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
30 thin slices of French bread

Ingredients for the sauce:
¼ c butter
3 Tbls. flour
1 tsp. salt (or less)
¼ tsp. pepper
dash ground nutmeg
2 ½ c milk
¼ c grated Parmesan cheese
2 eggs, lightly beaten

Ingredients for filling:
8 oz. linguine, cooked and drained
2 c. (8 oz.) shredded Swiss cheese, divided
1/3 c sliced green onions or 2 Tbls. dried chives
2 tsp. dried, crushed basil leaves
2 plum tomatoes, cut lengthwise into eighths

Preparation:
Melt ¼ c butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and cook for one minute. Brush 10-inch pie plate with butter mixture, then line bottom and sides of pie plate with bread, overlapping about one inch. Brush bread with remaining butter mixture and bake in preheated 400-degree oven for five minutes or until lightly browned.

Melt remaining ¼ cup butter in medium saucepan over low heat. Stir in flour and seasonings. Gradually stir in the milk. Cook sauce, stirring constantly until thickened. Add Parmesan cheese to the sauce. Stir a little of the sauce into the eggs. Stir egg mixture into the remaining sauce and set aside.

Combine cooked linguine, 1 ¼ cups Swiss cheese, chicken, onions and basil in a large bowl. Pour the sauce over the pasta mixture and toss to coat. Pour into crust. Sprinkle with remaining Swiss cheese. Arrange tomatoes on top of casserole, and bake in preheated 350-degree oven for 25 minutes or until warm. Let stand five minutes before serving.

Yield – 1 ten inch pie

Notes:

• You can also add cubed chicken or ham to this dish.
  
• I like to serve it to guests because it cuts neatly and tastes wonderful!
• More than once I've forgotten to brown the crust before spooning in the filling. The crust is definitely a better texture if you do it according to the directions, but if you whiz through without reading carefully, it'll taste the same.