Is there anything that could replace the eggs in this recipe? It looks and sounds amazing!

I hate cottage cheese straigt out of the carton - does beating it with the eggs change the texture? Or can I sub in more yogurt if I strain it to be thick?

I would add artichoke hearts and maybe spinach and parsley.

mlflamingo--try giving the cottage cheese a whirl in a food processor or blender. It's an extra step but I have a mac and cheese recipe that calls for that and you can't see any of the curds in the finished product.

The recipe looks great, I will definitely try it, thanks!

@mlflamingo, yes, the final casserole doesn't taste anything like cottage cheese. Think ricotta in lasagna -- it serves that function here. But it's not grainy like ricotta - just creamy.

This sounds really really good. One thing that has been difficult with vegetarian casseroles is to find ones that have protein. I can't wait to try this!

Looks great and economical -- going on the list. I like Elissa-D's artichoke and spinach suggestions.

This sounds delicious and perfect. Sadly, Boy does not share my enthusiasm for chick peas. Like at all. Which I totally to not understand, because they're tasty and versatile.

Already the second recipe from your book that sounds delicious (the mushroom risotto was so tasty!) Gonna buy the book today, curious to find out more :)

A couple of questions: what size baking dish am I looking at for this and can I use low fat (not non-fat) yogurt and cottage cheese for the dish or do you prefer whole milk dairy for the casserole? Also (ok-this is a third question)-do you prefer greek-style yogurt or regular yogurt?

This looks delicious and would like to try this but want to make sure I get everything right. Thanks in advance and loving this week's recipes. I wish there was a way to save all these great recipes on this site in an online recipe box/file. But I digress......

My husband hates the taste of parmesean - think we could sub something else? Mozzerella maybe?

@rosebud whoops! When I transferred from book formatting the dish size was left off. This is made in a standard 9x13-inch pan.

I have used all types of yogurt in this - low-fat, Greek-style, regular... There won't be too much difference, although Greek will make the casserole slightly (just slightly!) drier, since there is less moisture in it.

And as far as a Parmesan sub goes... the Parm taste doesn't come through very strongly, given all the other flavors. It's a supporting player here for saltiness and umami. But Gruyere would be wonderful here. Or another hard, semi-dry cheese that can be grated finely.

@Queenforoneday how fun! Thank you. Please let me know what you think.

Also love the spinach and artichoke suggestions.

Oh, thank you, Faith Durand! This looks wonderful, versatile, and downright yummy. I am a big fan of the "Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker" books - and while I realize that you didn't author those books, if your book on casseroles is cut from the same cloth, then it must be a winner! (In fact, I stopped while typing this comment and ordered your book from Amazon.)

One question, if you don't mind: if I wish to cook from dried chickpeas, how much will I need to make 5 cups of cooked chickpeas? I'm thinking 2 to 2.5 cups dried should do it.

@Janis oh thank you! That's a good question on dried chickpeas. I confess that they are one of the only beans I don't really ever cook from dried; they take so long to cook!

But yes, the rule of thumb says 1 cup dried to 2 cups cooked, so 2.5 should give you enough.

Can anyone identify the casserole dish? I would love to find an all black pan just like this one!

@rachels that is actually the Emile Henry Rectangular Baker (from their Urban line) that we featured in the healthy casseroles contest.

@Faith Durand: Made this tonight....delicious, but very very dry. I don't know much about casserole science, but do you think that the lowfat dairy products I used are to blame? If not, any other suggestions?

Thanks in advance! :)

Mine also came out extremely dry, and I did not use low-fat dairy products. And the casserole I used was slightly smaller than 9x13 (a large oval Le Creuset gratin dish), so theoretically it should have kept somewhat moister.

But I pureed what we did not eat with chicken broth to make a soup, and the soup is absolutely delicious. It's delicate and creamy. The lemon flavor holds up very well even with reheating, and the rosemary is subtle and elegant in the background.

I don't know what the dryness problem is, but this is going into my permanent file as a soup. I'm eating it now.

A thought -- I wonder if this dish would do better at 350 or even 325. It would dry out less. And even if it needed a slightly longer cooking time, that would give the flavors more time to penetrate into the chickpeas.

Can chopped firm tofu sub for the cottage cheese? Would I then need to add more salt perhaps?

On the dryness question, yes, I think using lowfat products will contribute to this. I have 3 suggestions on this.

1. One suggestion is to add another 1/2 cup of liquid to the mix. You can use milk, soy milk, or even just vegetable broth.

2. Bake covered. I haven't had problems with this being very dry so I never did this (I like the crispy top!) but you can bake for about 30 minutes covered and then 15 uncovered to crisp it up.

3. And finally, I have had the best results with this casserole when I used small curd cottage cheese. (I'll add a note on this.) Both types of cottage cheese work great, but I noticed that small curd seems to make for a creamier final product.

@ger610pie I haven't tried using tofu here, but you would definitely also need more liquid. As far as salt goes, I would just taste the mix before you bake it and adjust accordingly.

This looks like a really tasty casserole. Unfortunately, I only cook for two, so this is a bit much all at once. However, I've simply split large casseroles into two smaller ones (like lasagna), storing one in the freezer for a future dinner. If I freeze this before baking, how much longer do you think I'd have to bake it? I'm thinking 15-20 minutes, but would welcome any feedback.

I also excitedly made this- it sounded amazing (and smelled amazing in the oven....) but I also ended up with a very dry, sad thing. We threw a few tbsp of plain yogurt and some chopped cherry tomatoes to salvage dinner, but it was very dissapointing despite using full fat, small curd dairy and keeping it covered for the first 20 minutes or so. It seemed like it would be a perfect side dish, but as a main for a couple of vegetarians, it was a bit of a bummer. I love the soup idea though- I might try that!

Faith, thanks for a great recipe. I made this tonight and it was delish. I didnt have any rice so I substituted quinoa which worked out great.

Any ideas yet on whether the eggs could be left out? First question here asked that too. Sounds really delicious. Thanks.

why is it that whenever the nice folks here at the kitchn post a recipe, almost every comment asks on whether something can be substituted or eliminated? of course you can make this without eggs. it's just not going to be custardy. and certainly you can use tofu - it's just going to be... different.

pfft. vegans and timid cooks get my goat.

@toughcupcake there is a difference between timid and inexperienced. why would you be annoyed that someone is new to cooking and asks a question of either the author or the community? kind of a whack thing to "get your goat."

and those vegans! gah! always trying to do the right thing. hate that.

I'm eating this right now. It's very tasty! It's not dry at all. However, I only had 2 cans of chickpeas in my pantry. I can see how it might be dry with another can. The lemon is delicous. The only other "change" I made was adding more salt and pepper after I'd cooked it. This is definatly going in my file! Thank you. I'll be looking for your book

Thanks for the nice "welcome" to the group. Don't worry I won't bother you again toughcupcake (appropriate name) and BTW I'm not a vegan.

I'm making this tomorrow, so all the feedback is helpful.

I've found chickpeas can get very dry, especially when you bake them (I've made baked falafel a few times.) Canned chickpeas vary quite a bit, for one thing. But I'd also try substituting some of the chickpeas for fava beans...this is sometimes done with falafel. It doesn't seem to alter the flavour at all and the fava beans add moisture.

@toughcupcake Seriously? How is that comment helpful, constructive, or even necessary? Yellow.labs never identified themselves as vegan OR timid. Perhaps they wanted to make this for dinner tonight but didn't want to have to run to the store for eggs? They should not be lambasted for asking a simple question of the recipe author and/or a community of home cooks who would most likely be able to provide an answer.

Comments like yours turn this into a negative space that is not helpful or welcoming to new and experienced cooks alike.

On a different note, I made this this afternoon. I added 1/2c vegetable broth and cooked it at 350 for slightly longer and it was delicious! I am looking forward to reheating this for lunch this week. Thanks for a lovely quick and easy casserole.

I've cooked this last night and it was d e l i c i o u s!!
As i did the whole recipe i took some for todays lunch and will freeze the rest into portions.
I've used a little less parmesan than mentioned and might add an extra lemon next time.

I'm making this right now and am considering grains other than brown rice (quinoa and pearl couscous). Any ideas for / success with this dish without brown rice?

I wanted to follow up that I made this last night and it was excellent. I took the advice of Faith's subsequent comments to add additional liquid and cover the top as I had used low fat cottage cheese (no idea what size curd it was-the TJs organic brand doesn't state) and non-fat greek yogurt and was worried about it being dry. My liquid of choice was 1/2 cup of chicken stock and I cooked it at 1/2 the time uncovered and the other 1/2 with foil. It was great-hubby and 3yr old daughter (the more discriminating palette of the family by far) both loved it. I froze 1/2 of the recipe and even have a large piece to take to work tomorrow. Thank you-great recipe. Crossing my fingers that I win the book, if not, I will be purchasing.

I also made the recipe according to the directions (no low fat ingredients) and the flavor was great but the texture was dry and definitely not creamy. I froze most of it in individual servings and will try adding a bit more liquid when I reheat. Will try the recipe again with extra liquid as mentioned. I loved the light and bright flavor of the dish.

Mine too turned out dry, but I definitely fudged the recipe some (greek yogurt, etc) so it could be entirely my fault. It's so great to have feedback here on tips to make it more moist next time...thanks for the helpful comments! Great flavors in this dish.

Just made this and yes, it's a little on the drier side. But it is pretty yummy. The only thing that I would change for next time would be to leave out the rosemary. For me, the rosemary was a little overwhelming and I used maybe half the amount. But I was looking for a more subtle flavor to the dish. But this recipe is definitely one for the books!

I made this last night and it was delicious. The hubs doesn't like chickpeas as much as I do, and he really liked it. Said it was his favorite chickpea dish ever (excepting hummus, which he puts in a different category) and he would gladly eat it again.

I cooked my chickpeas from dry beans. To counter the possibility of dryness in the casserole, I added about 1/3 cup of white wine.

I whipped this baby up for a dinner party last week, and while I made it mine with a few small touches, this was a fantastic recipe. Across the board a favorite. I'm baking it up right now to nibble from for the week.

I thought it was really great that the recipe is easily converted to gluten-free even though it's not a strict "gluten-free" recipe. I just substituted gluten-free crackers for bread crumbs, and my friends could enjoy the dish as well.

Made it last night and subbed one of the cans of chickpeas for Great Northern Beans. Still delicious. Not too dry for me.

I'm doing WW (who isn't?) and thus made a variety of volume substitutions. However! my favorite suggestions is to use fresh sage instead of the herbs required. Garlic/shallots+sage is one of my favorite flavor profiles, and it worked brilliantly here. I had a hard time not eating it raw.

This is a great recipe. I love Faith's book, and anyone wondering about the other recipes could check out the reviews on cookbooker (www.cookbooker.com) - its a great resource for people who love cookbooks.

I wanted to come back and comment, because I made this again, this time with 3 cans of chickpeas. I definatly think it is dry. I even upped the yogurt and cottage cheese amounts and it's still dry. Next time I'm going to add a little bit of broth. And, don't make the mistake I made and use "flavored" bread crumbs. Just...don't.

I made this and it was delicious. Maybe a little dry, but tasty nonetheless. I gave some to someone else, who adored it.

I made this tonight, with a few subs. I used sour cream in place of yogurt since I didn't want to buy a huge tub of plain yogurt and that was all my kroger had. I also had slightly less than 5 cups of cooked chickpeas (I made mine from dried) so I just tossed some extra brown rice in. I also used 1 large onion that I caramelized in place of the scallion, some crushed croutons in place of breadcrumbs, and italian blend cheese. Ok maybe more than a few substitutions, but it was delicious nonetheless. Not dry. Oh and I cooked it in a casserole with the lid on the whole time except the last 5 mins.

My only problelm with this dish is that I couldn't stop snacking on yummy spoonfulls of the chickpea lemon mixture while preparing the other stuff.

Because people in my family are sensitive to garlic and shallots I sauteed these in a generous amount of olive oil, which may have improved the texture and kept the chickpeas from getting too dry, as they were tossed in oil. I bet if you added some chopped marinated artichoke hearts (which I will definitely do next time, that might help too. Did add a half cup of broth though.

Also, encouraged by GetRealChris I substituted the rice with some leftover bulghur/quinoa mix that was already cooked from last night's dinner. Wonder if the rice, even cooked, absorbs too much moisture?

Anyway, great recipe, especially for entertaining vegetarian friends. We're not, but trying to cut down on weekly meat so this is perfect! Thanks - will definitely buy your book!!!

The flavor of this casserole is outstanding! One of my favorite flavor combos is lemon, parsley, garlic, and cheese. Like most other posters mine isn't an exact replica of the recipe: I used Trader Joes Brown Rice Medley, TJs Cheddar/Guyere cheese and (unfortunately) dried rosemary. I only had 2 cans of chickpeas so I used more rice. Mine wasn't dry but didn't bind together well- maybe another egg would help. Regardless, it is super tasty and I'm actually looking forward to the leftovers.

I'm having this right now and I LOVE IT!!! Here are the adjustments I made below:

- 1.5 qt dish (cooking for one this week!) so I halved the dish.
- I used parmesan, as well as feta. My lemon went bad, so I didn't have lemon.. which next time, I will use!
- One can of chickpeas, since I halved the recipe.
- I just used salt and pepper as seasoning. No shallots, either.
- It baked and binded reallllyyy well!! I baked 350 degrees for 48 minutes, uncovered. I'm sure it was fine after 35 minutes but I was getting a salad ready.

Adding this to my arsenal :D

is there a way to make casseroles low-carb? (the only thing i need to replace would be breadcrumbs). do they hold it together?

We made this casserole yesterday. You can see a pic at:

http://suburbiahappens.blogspot.com/

It was the best casserole we have had in a long time. It was moist and flavorful and just awesome. Even my husband like it, and he doesn't like chickpeas.

I was so inspired by this recipe that I made my own version - unfortunately I didn't have a lot of the ingredients at home so I improvised, and it turned out fantastic! Thanks so much for the inspiration :D

You can see my version here if you're interested!

http://www.amuse-your-bouche.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/lemony-chickpea-casserole.html

i just finished eating this and it was AMAZING. I'm so excited to have found a great base recipe that I can turn into so many other delicious and CHEAP meals. Highly recommend. Perfect meal to make for dinner and have leftovers for work the next day (and maybe enough for dinner the following night!). And don't let the cottage cheese scare you - it's totally disguised.

I LOVED the flavor! I made it as is, however, mine came out a bit dry and my family doesn't want me to make it again unless it is more moist! Any recommendations?

I made this recipe yesterday. It was really good and I'm definitely making it again. I halved the recipe since I was only making it for two. I substituted bulgur for the rice because thats what I had in hand. To combat the dryness, I added 1/4 a cup of water. I also set the oven to 350 instead of 375. My only problem is that the shallots weren't thoroughly cooked making the dish have a strong raw oniony. Next time I will saute the shallots before adding.

FYI this dish is NOT vegetarian. Parmesan cheese has animal rennet in it.

As a vegetarian I would recommend leaving the parmesan cheese off the top and subbing cream cheese or goat cheese for the parmesan in the filling.

Also, for lacto vegetarians reading this, subbing 1/2 cup cottage cheese instead of the two eggs works fine.

The dish is dry and I would recommend 1 cup white wine or veg stock.