Italian Green Bean Artichoke Casserole
A delicious alternative to the standard green bean casserole, this Italian Green Bean Artichoke Casserole is definitely an upgrade. It is also much healthier! The base of this casserole isn’t a creamy soup–the ingredients don’t need to be covered up to taste good. Rather, flat wide Italian style green beans and baby artichokes are tossed with sauteed onion, celery and garlic. Then olive oil, bread crumbs and Italian cheese are blended in. Different and oh so good!
My good friend Sherri gave me this recipe years ago. I was looking for a dish to serve at the holidays instead of the typical green bean casserole. Now don’t get me wrong. I do make a “regular” green bean casserole with the creamy soup and a couple of kinds of cheese in it. So I am not opposed that version. But my family is large, and several people in it are gluten free and very health conscious. Therefore, it is often difficult, if not impossible, to find dishes that satisfy everyone!
So in searching for a healthier version, I found the green bean casserole that everyone likes even better than the original! Sherri is a fabulous cook, and she just called the ingredients of this recipe out to me over the phone that first time. I had to kind of “wing it”, so the end result is not identical to hers, especially since I use gluten free bread crumbs. But it set me on a different “green bean casserole path” and so glad it did. Everyone LOVES it.
This Italian Green Bean Artichoke Casserole is perfect over the holidays. I serve it on Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. We also eat it on Easter as it is also delicious with ham. That said, it is great alongside chicken fingers or grilled chicken as well. And since it is super easy to put together, we eat it throughout the year! Enjoy!
Italian Green Bean Artichoke Casserole
Ingredients
- 4 cans Italian cut green beans I use Allen's Italian Green Beans — can also use 2 XL cans instead of 4 regular sized
- 1 can baby artichoke hearts I use Reese Delicate Baby Artichoke Hearts
- olive oil for sauteeing and drizzling on top
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 small sweet onion chopped fine
- 2-3 celery stalks and their leaves chopped fine
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- generous pinch oregano
- generous pinch parsley
- red pepper flakes, to taste I use 1/4 to 1/2 tsp
- approx 1 cup bread crumbs I use Ian's gluten free; can substitute regular or seasoned bread crumbs
- approx 1 cup pecorino romano cheese can substitute parmesan, asiago, or combination of Italian hard cheeses; keep more on hand to add to the top of casserole before baking.
- garlic salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
- squeeze of lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°.Saute onions, celery and garlic in about 1 tablespoon olive oil and the butter. Season with garlic salt, pepper, a pinch of oregano, parsley, and red pepper flakes. Cook over medium heat until softened and set aside to cool.
- Drain the Italian green beans well. Drain the baby artichokes seperately, then chop the artichokes into small pieces and sprinkle them with lemon juice.
- In a large bowl, combine the beans with the artichoke hearts, bread crumbs, cheese and sauteed vegetables. Drizzle with a bit of olive oil. Make sure to carefully fold all ingredients together with a big rubber spatula so that you don't crush the beans. The mixture should have a good bit of bread crumbs and cheese, so add more if necessary.
- Place in a baking dish that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Sprinkle a few more breadcrumbs over the top of the casserole and drizzle with olive oil. Mixture should be moist with the oil but not greasy. Add a little more shredded parmesan cheese and a pinch of parsley on top of all.
- Bake at 350° for about 30 minutes. Top should be lightly browned. Mangia!