Zucchini

Too bad that this wonderful vegetable has gotten a bum rap for being so prolific. Most people groan when they appear on the counter at work - they have made as much bread as their family can stand and the rest go rotting.

This year I planted 3 different varieties, harvesting as many blossoms as I can for blossom recipes - fried, stuffed and fried, risotto. What few that get away from me and do develop into fruit have been used mostly as "noodles". I cut them lenghwise on a Benriner mandolin using the medium blade so that they turn out somewhere between capellini and linguini. I have cooked these with many different seasonings/herbs and served them as sauce for pasta, side veg or " puddled" a la Jenise. With thin rice noodles and Asian seasonings; with semolina pasta, cream and basil; with shredded ham and eggs as a fritatta......etc.

As you can tell, I love them. Do you have any unusual recipes for zucchini ?

Zucchini Boats (serves eight)

This a great use of those giant zucchinis that your neighbors give you.

4 very large zucchini
3 lb. Italian sausage, casings removed (I use 1 lb. hot, 2 lb. mild)
1 cup white wine
6 cloves garlic, chopped fine
1/4 cup olive oil
1 large vadalia onion, cut in thin slivers
4 medium tomatoes, cubed
3 green peppers, cut in thin strips
1 cup grated cheese (I use Romano)
1 lb. mozzarella cheese, shredded

Poke a knife slit in each of the zucchinis and cook in the microwave until soft. Cut in half lengthwise, scoop out the seeds, thus making the “boats” and place on baking sheet. In a large skillet, cook the sausage with the wine, breaking it up into a coarse mixture, until all the wine evaporates and the sausage starts to brown. In another skillet, sauté the garlic in the olive oil. Stir in the onions and sweat them. When the onions are done, add the tomatoes and cook to reduce the liquid. Stir in the peppers, cover and cook for about 5 minutes. Stir in the grated cheese to thicken and remove from heat. Fill the zucchinis with sausage and top with the peppers, onion and tomato mixture. Bake in a 300 degree oven for 20-30 minutes. Top with mozzarella and place under broiler to slightly brown the mozzarella. Serve one boat per person.

Hi Christina,

Zucchini goes well with a lot of Korean cuisine, especially that which is prepared and served warmer rather than colder. As I upload pictures of my culinary escapades, I will think to post their respective recipes (btw, Korean Knife-Noodle Soup [Kahl Goohksooh] is great with grated zucchini put on the top of the pot toward the end of the cooking; I meant to cook it for this past Saturday lunch, and I was thinking maybe to actually prepare to serve it as a COLD dish [not as leftovers; see cold pizza thread], but my friend did not inform me in time whether or not lunch was also going to be meat based). I also grew up with a lot of good, fresh zucchini put in spaghetti dishes…

Best wishes,
E.Y.

Two weeks ago at the Farmer's Market, an Asian family had plastic tubs filled with giant zukes, and I do mean giant. People were walking by, some snickering, some smiling. I was reminded of when I was growing them when our kids were still at home. I'd check the garden one day and see small ones, several days later, the giants were there. I'd take them all down to the homeless shelter and they were glad to have them. This week the Asian family brought them all back or maybe they were another crop of giants. I used to stuff the large ones and they were very good, but I have no idea what one would do with those giants. They must have a million seeds inside. I did notice that they were a very dark green, almost black so maybe they are a special variety.

Here is a picture of a zucchini kid, all ready to go home from the market!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/32648945@N00/655687552/

[David M. Bueker]

I use them as weapons.

Try shredding them, then squeeze out as much juice as possible, flavouring with thyme and a squeeze of lemon, and using them as the vegetable component of a Quiche.
Great lunch fare with a decent Loire Sauvignon or a really good Suave.

I use them as weapons.

As a matter of fact we made zucchini catapults when I was a kid. With enough surgical rubber tubing we could launch those fat suckers a couple of hundred feet. Only the faulty judgement of using a neighbour's car as a target prevented a possibly promising career in weapons research.... That was the year my parents first planted zukes and didn't realize just how productive they were!

Frankly, I have observed that any recipe that uses zucchini is just as good it you don't use zucchini. The stuff does seem to have a role as neutral tasting bulking material, but surely that is damning with very faint praise?

Quiche and stuffed - I had forgotten. Thanks Howie and Dave. The quiche idea reminded me of some other things I have done: fritters; sformatos - a souffle like thing with lost of Parm; any number of soup possibilities.

[Jenise]

Christina,

Just last night I watched a several-months-old episode of Iron Chef featuring Bobby Flay and Gabrielle Hamilton (restaurant Prune in New York). The challenge ingredient was zucchini. It may have been a re-run--I rarely watch the show--but I taped it because I was interested in watching Ms. Hamilton work. Several of the dishes that stood out for me were a "sun-dried" zucchini Ms. Hamilton made, wherein she put thin slices of salted zucchini into a convection oven and then pan-fried them golden and crisp. She served those in a casuela with salt and fresh mint--ultra simple, but the judges (one of whom was Michael Ruhlman who obviously thinks zucchini is absolutely tasteless) were wowed by it. She also made a dish with boiled/steamed zucchini that she tossed with harissa and topped with crumbled goat cheese and chunks of flattened olives. Another I liked was one of Bobby Flay's creations, a riff on linguine vongole using the 'noodle' cut you refer to, wherein cockles were sauteed with olive oil, garlic and white wine and then the zucchini 'pasta' was added until lightly cooked through. Very attractive. Ms. Hamilton also made a dessert of an zucchini fritter wherein the flour was almond flour and other sweet things I can't recall, and it was served warm on top of greek yoghurt and topped with a crumble of baked stringy phyllo with cinnamon. This last sounds like a dish you would describe making!

Too bad that this wonderful vegetable has gotten a bum rap for being so prolific. Most people groan when they appear on the counter at work - they have made as much bread as their family can stand and the rest go rotting.

Ah, zucchini. The quintessential Yankee garden vegetable. Zucchinis love New England summer weather.

No matter how few plants or seeds you put in the ground in the spring, by August the vines will have taken over your garden like something out of a science fiction horror movie.

But we're New Englanders. You just CAN'T throw anything away. Especially anything from your garden.

So you make ratatouille. And fried zucchini. And baked zucchini. And zucchini bread. And . . . and . . . .

And in the end you still end up bringing bags of them to work to foist off on innocent co-workers--most of whom have their own zucchini overpopulation problem to deal with.

There's a New England joke about a man from New York City who spends a summer vacation in a rural New England town. He's pleasantly surprised at how all the natives leave their cars unlocked in parking lots, and nobody locks the doors to their houses.

He's therefore shocked when, in mid-August, he sees one of the older native townspeople park his car in at the general store. The native carefully rolls up all the windows and locks the car. When the New Yorker asks him why he's locked up his car, when nobody else seems to have done so for the entire summer, the old inhabitant replies:

"I don't want no damn zucchinis!"

And it's all true. I know of neighbors who have found a bagful of zucchinis left on their doorstep, like foundlings, or on the seat of an (unlocked) car.

We CAN'T throw them away--we're Yankees.

-Paul W.

There's also the absolutely Yankee bumper sticker:

NO ZUKES!


-Paul W.

I've only ever done savory fritters but sweet ones open up a whole new avenue. All the posts on dosas raise the possibility of a crepe like use sweet or savory, layered or rolled with fillings, sauced and baked...Hmm..almost makes me wish I'd planted more than 3 varieties.

My favorite, a delicate summer soup. Simmer zucchini and onions in a little water until soft but not mushy. Blend until smooth. Excellent hot or cold, with a dollop of Greek yogurt or sour cream. Leave the skins on the zucchini to get a lovely green color. Lasts in the fridge for a week and freezes beautifully.

A great hint of summer in February! Bob

My favorite, a delicate summer soup.

That sounds simple and delicious, Bob. Thanks for posting that!

[Jenise]

Christina,

Here's another zucchini idea posted some time back by Francesco, a recipe I've made since and adored where zucchini and mint basically combine to make a vegetarian pasta sauce:

http://www.wineloverspage.com/forum/village/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=7179&p=56943&hilit=zucchini+Francesco#p56943

Thanks, Cynthia. Jenise's post reminded me that a few sprigs of mint add an interesting note to this simple soup. Bob

Two weeks ago at the Farmer's Market, an Asian family had plastic tubs filled with giant zukes, and I do mean giant.

Lemme guess - the men were snickering and the ladies were smiling?

Or the men looked wistful.

In any case, grated, squeezed out, and mixed with grated potato, some seasoning, and a bit of egg and flour binder, they make excellent latkes.