If you wound up with a bumper crop of zucchini you needed to
harvest before the cold weather, or just want some recipes to file away for
next year’s onslaught, here are a slew of options I’ve cooked lately:
Summer Vegetable
Galette With Pesto
Adapted from The Kitchn recipe. Like all galettes, it has the advantage of the loosey-goosey-ness free-form factor. Rusticity is your friend.
Ingredients:
1¼ cups flour
¾ teaspoon sea salt
1 stick of very cold butter, cubed
¼ cup ice cold water
1 small yellow squash, thinly sliced
1 small zucchini, thinly sliced
1 large tomato or two small, thinly sliced
1/3 to ½ cup pesto
1 egg yolk mixed with ½ teaspoon cream for egg wash
Grated Parmesan cheese, optional
Method:
In the bowl of a food processor, combine flour, salt and butter
cubes. Pulse until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. With motor running, add
cold water until mixture comes together. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate
or an hour or freeze for a half hour. (This dough was pretty sticky.)
Roll out pastry on floured board with well-floured rolling
pin until it’s about 12 inches in diameter or your desired shape. (I went with
a slightly oval shape because it was going to fit on my platter better, just
roll your dough more in one direction than the other to achieve that shape.)
Spread a thin layer of pesto over the pastry to within about
1½ inches of the edge. Top with thin layer of zucchini and squash, then
tomatoes. Fold up edges to form a galette. Brush edges with egg wash. Bake at
375 for 35 to 40 minutes until golden brown. Let sit for about 10 minutes before
slicing. Sprinkle with cheese if desired.
Rating:
Surprisingly fast and easy, and quite tasty. The bottom crust got nicely done
without the top getting too brown, which can sometimes be a problem with this
sort of thing. The slices were completely pick-up-able and the bottom had a
nice flaky texture instead of being mushy. I found myself wondering what
sprinkling on a little bit of feta for the last five minutes of baking would be
like, so there’s another excuse to try it again.
Zucchini-tomato-onion
kabobs
Cut 1 zucchini, 1 summer squash and 1 medium red onion into largish chunks. Combine squashes, onions and 1 pint cherry tomatoes on a bowl. Toss with some balsamic vinaigrette and
let sit for a half hour. (Meanwhile, soak skewers in water if you’re using the
bamboo variety.) Thread onto skewers and grill until al dente.
Zoodles and fresh
tomato sauce
Chop up the equivalent of about 5 medium tomatoes. Peel and
slice in 2 garlic cloves. Stir in about 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 tablespoon
balsamic vinegar and season to taste with salt and pepper. (Add mini fresh
mozzarella balls if you’d like.) Using a
julienne shredder or mandolin, thinly slice zucchini and summer squash into
thin ribbons. Toss zoodles with sauce.
Grilled zucchini and
andouille sausage with quinoa
Slice 2 large zucchini and yellow squash diagonally about ¼ inch
thick. Toss with balsamic dressing. Grill until almost tender, about 5 to 10
minutes depending on your grill temp. Thinly slice a medium-size red onion and
cut 2 sausage links into ¼ inch slices. Saute until onions are tender and
sausage is browned. Cook a cup of quinoa according to package directions. Toss
all ingredients together.
Grilled Zucchini With
Fresh Dill Vinaigrette
From “Bobby Flay’s Grill It.” Made this one last year before I got all fanatic about taking so-so pictures of whatever I tried that was new, so no pix. But like all the recipes from this book, the dressings/condiments are what really kick it:
Combine 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar, 1 tablespoon fresh
lemon juice, 2 teaspoons each of honey and Dijon mustard, and 3 tablespoons
chopped fresh dill in blender or food processor. Season with salt and pepper.
Add ½ cup olive oil with motor running to emulsify. (This dressing is a keeper even if it never touches a zucchini.)
Quarter 3 medium zucchini lengthwise. Brush with olive oil
and grill until just cooked, about 5 to 8 minutes. Cut grilled zucchini in half
crosswise. Drizzle with vinaigrette and serve.
And some links to previous posts that make good use of
zucchini:
And a link to a recipe I’ve tried from elsewhere that I can
vouch for. Because really, what can't bacon make tasty:
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