When the squash come in, they usually come in like gangbusters. Especially the zucchini, which have the reputation of being unwanted by virtue of their usual profligacy. As a result, zucchini’ve been the brunt of jokes, stealth doorstep deliveries and chunkin’ contests for years. Which is a shame, since they’re actually super veggies — about 20 calories a raw cupful, very high in vitamin A, B6 and C, manganese, magnesium, riboflavin, potassium and phosphorous as well as some other good stuff. And you can do a ton of different things with them. Raw in salads and dip platters, casseroled, shredded, baked, frittered, tempura’d, marinated, pickled and frozen for winter use. You can even use the blossoms in frittatas, Mexican soups, stuffed and fried. (Use only the male blossoms if you’re picking your own. They are the ones standing up on long stems without tiny little squashes at their base.).
There are several different zucchini varieties available now in addition to the usual dark green cylinders that you can usually find at this time of year. Lovely pale green cylinders, golden zucchinis, which are milder tasting than the dark green ones, and artsy ‘Gadzukes,’ which has creamy ridges along its length and is drier, sweeter and longer-lasting in the fridge. ‘Eight Ball’ zucchinis look like their name (there are now pale green ones, too), which make good little individual stuffers. Finally, there is Zuchetta Rampicante or Tromboncino, a climbing zucchini with an exceedingly long-necked squash that will feed a family of four for about a week.
Pick the cylindrical ones small and tender, and they are called courgettes. (Sounds like something fast and sleek, doesn’t it?) Pick them too late and they are brickbats –aka marrow if you live in Britain where they are fed to the hogs. But if you live by the adage, Waste not; Want not, you can shred the oversized ones, whose skin tends to be thick, into soups, use them for zucchini bread and make really good pickles out of them.
For a quick, easy side dish, thin-slice zucchini, onions and potatoes and sauté them in olive oil with a little salt and pepper. Cover that with cheese, or use that mix as the basis for a frittata, add some fresh basil, chives, rosemary and you’ve got a whole meal. You can stuff them with anything from couscous, dried tomato, lemon thyme, cucumber and garlic to corn, onions, fresh tomatoes, peppers and cheese to shredded barbequed pork. Deep fried zucchini fritters are terrific – crispy on the edges, creamy and flavorful in the middle. Cooked the size of pancakes, they are a filling meal with red wine. Bite-sized, they are a great platter-passed hors d’oeuvre. A slightly lower impact version is zucchini pancakes — less oil and lower cooking temps, so the kitchen doesn’t heat up. Zuke pancakes are easily portable and are good the next day cold, like Scotch pancakes, but savory. (They’re way less messy to stuff into a foul weather gear pocket during a jibe than half a tuna sandwich, which I’ve also done. Once.).
Shred the larger ones to make zucchini bread — there’s a great, easy recipe in Silver Palate – which is good with cream cheese and lemon frosting. Or put the raw shreddings into pint freezer bags (which is about a cup and a half of zucchini), squeeze out the air, seal and freeze. Half-thaw a bag in winter for use in soups, rice or pasta casseroles and even bread, though you have to pour off about half the half-thawed water before you put them into the quick bread batter.
An easy casserole that’s usually a crowd-pleaser uses fresh zucchini, tomatoes and pasta. Cook elbow macaroni, rotini, or ziti until about half-done. (The fresh vegetables will render enough water to finish cooking the pasta.). Chop about a cup of tomatoes, cube a cup or two of fresh zucchini, an onion, a sweet pepper, chunks of leftover cheese (cheddar, gruyere, mozzarella, Parmesan, blue), some grated carrots for sweetness if you like. Aim for about 3 cups of pasta to 3 cups of cheese. Add some fresh herbs. Add browned ground beef if you want, or leftover barbequed chicken or pork. Top with Parmesan and bake for about 45 minutes or until the whole thing is bubbly.
Zucchini Fritters with Adobo Sauce
Jean Sanders and I entered this recipe in Food52’s zucchini recipe contest last year. Didn’t win – the picture alone should have, I don’t get it! Don’t know what did win in the end, but the entries I’ve tried since were fabulous,especially the summer squash gratin, whose recipe is listed in links. The only thing I’d do differently in the gratin recipe is add much less oil.*
- This recipe was entered in the contest for Your Best Summer Squash Recipe .
Nancy has a fecund garden, and knows off the top of her head several recipes that will deal with the inevitable summer deluge of zucchini. She is wise in the ways of the zukes!
SERVES 4
- 1 medium zucchini, grated
- 3 tablespoons finely chopped poblano
- 3 tablespoons finely chopped onion
- 1 cup mixed fresh herbs – lots of basil, lime basil, parsley, oregano, thyme and chives
- 1-2 tablespoon lime juice
- 1/4 cup flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 egg
- 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Spanish paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon cumin
- Salt and pepper
- Vegetable oil for frying
- Adobo sauce
- 1-2 Adobo chilis with tomato sauce mixed in 1/3 cup best-quality mayo
Heat oil (about an inch) in iron frying pan. Grate zucchini and mix all of the fritter ingredients in a bowl just before you’re ready to start frying. (If you do it too soon, the zucchini will give off a lot of its water and the fritter will be gummy rather than light.). Ease batter into hot oil by tablespoons-full. Pat into a flattish cake. Fry on medium high heat until golden and cooked through. Drain on paper towels. Serve with adobo sauce. (And Margaritas on the side!)
https://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Zucchini-Risotto/Detail.aspx
https://allrecipes.com/recipe/zucchini-fritters-with-fresh-mozzarella-and-tomato/detail.aspx
https://www.food.com/recipe/creamed-zucchini-460245
https://www.food.com/recipe/zucchini-relish-461225
https://www.food.com/recipe/gordon-ramsays-zucchini-cannelloni-with-ricotta-pine-nut-370297
https://www.food.com/recipe/zucchini-filled-with-three-cheeses-with-homemade-tomato-sauce-268915
https://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/zucchini-oven-chips-10000001087041/
https://kitchenmouse.rozentali.com/2010/09/flor-de-calabaza-sopa-squash-blossom-soup/
https://www.food52.com/contests/162
https://www.seasonalchef.com/recipe0805b.htm
https://www.food52.com/blog/2162_summer_squash_gratin
— *The recipe calls for ¾ cup olive oil. I prefer it with no more than about 1/3 cup. The cheese is rich already. Too much oil masks the vegetables for me.
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