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Side dish casserole made with green string beans

Green Bean Casserole

Tender fresh green string beans in a creamy and cheesy sauce topped with crunchy onion toppers makes a great side dish casserole to many meals, including poultry, beef, and pork.
Course Side Dish
Cuisine American
Keyword casserole, Green Bean Casserole, green beans
Servings 6
My Island Bistro Kitchen Barbara99

Ingredients

Casserole Base:

  • ¾ lb fresh green string beans
  • 2 – 3 slices bacon, fried crisp and crumbled
  • 1 – 2 tbsp butter
  • 3 oz white button mushrooms, sliced
  • 1/3 cup diced red pepper
  • 1 tbsp finely chopped shallot
  • 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
  • ¾ cup French’s Crunchy Onion Toppers, amount divided in half

Sauce:

  • ½ of 284ml/10oz can Cream of Broccoli and Cheese Soup
  • ¼ cup milk
  • 1½ tbsp sour cream
  • ½ tbsp liquid chicken bouillon
  • 1 tsp Dijon mustard
  • ½ tsp soya sauce
  • 1/8 tsp nutmeg
  • 1 tsp chopped fresh tarragon (optional)
  • ½ tsp chopped fresh dill (optional)
  • ½ tsp dried summer savory (optional)
  • Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
  • ½ cup shredded cheddar cheese
  • 2 tbsp finely grated Parmesan cheese

Topping:

  • Apx. 1/3 cup bread crumbs
  • 1½ tbsp melted butter
  • Remaining half of French’s Crunchy Onion Toppers

Instructions

  1. Wash and snip ends of beans. Cut beans into pieces about 2” long.
  2. Grease 1-quart shallow baking dish.
  3. Slice the mushrooms, dice the red pepper, chop the shallot, and mince the garlic.
  4. Prepare the sauce by mixing the sauce ingredients in a 2-cup measuring cup or bowl. Whisk well to combine. Set aside.
  5. Fry the bacon in skillet until crispy. Crumble bacon into small pieces when cooled. Discard all but 1 tbsp of the bacon fat in the pan.
  6. Bring a saucepan of approximately 6-7 cups of water to a boil. Add 1 tsp salt.
  7. Prepare a bowl with ice water and lots of ice cubes for plunging beans into to stop them from cooking from their residual heat following the boiling of them in hot water. Refrigerate bowl of ice water until needed.
  8. Preheat oven to 350°F.
  9. Working in batches, blanch half the green beans in the boiling water for about 5 minutes, starting the 5-minute timing at the point at which the beans come to a boil. Remove the beans with a slotted spoon and immediately plunge them into the ice water to stop them from cooking further. Repeat process with remaining beans. Leave the beans in the ice-cold water for 5 minutes then drain in a colander. Add more ice cubes to the ice water for the second batch of beans.

  10. While the beans are blanching, melt the butter in with the reserved tablespoon of bacon fat in skillet over medium heat. Add the mushrooms and sauté for about 2 minutes then add the red pepper and shallots. Stir continuously and cook for about 2 minutes then add the garlic. Stir constantly and sauté only until garlic becomes fragrant, about 20-25 seconds. Do not let garlic scorch. Remove skillet from heat.

  11. Transfer drained beans to large bowl. Add the sautéed ingredients to the green beans and stir in the sauce mixture to combine all ingredients. Gently stir in one-half of the Crunchy Onion Toppers. Transfer mixture to prepared baking dish.
  12. Toss the bread crumbs in a small bowl with the melted butter. Sprinkle over top of casserole.
  13. Transfer casserole to oven and bake for apx. 25 minutes then sprinkle remaining Crunchy Onion Toppers over casserole and return to oven for 10-12 minutes longer, or until edges of casserole are bubbling and Crunchy Onion Toppers are tanned. Let casserole stand for at least 15 minutes to set before serving.

Recipe Notes

Yield: Apx. 6 servings

 

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