Thursday, September 3, 2009

Zucchini

My friend Cheri posted about zucchini the other day...it's the time of year when people tend to have a lot of it. Aside from the traditional zucchini breads (I do have a good chocolate zucchini bread recipe from Grandma...), there are a few other things that I do with my zucchini:

The easiest way to fix it (aside from eating it raw, which I do not find appetizing) is simply to slice it and fry it up on the stovetop. Lately I've taken to frying it in a bit of olive oil with Italian herbs--basil, oregano, garlic--and salt and pepper. If I don't slice an onion to fry with it I might include some onion powder. Fresh herbs from the garden are good in this.

And I also do my version of this recipe from YLCF. It's also similar to a lasagna (sort of) and eggplant parmesan. It's very, well, shall we just call it a free-style recipe? I don't always cook with exact amounts. :)

Ingredients:
Some zucchini, sliced. I'd say 2-4 depending on the size of them.
An onion, sliced.
A large can of diced tomatos or tomato sauce.
A small can of tomato paste
Italian herbs: basil, oregano, garlic
Salt and pepper
Parmesan cheese
Mozzerella cheese

Combine canned tomatoes, paste, and herbs to form a sauce--kind of like pizza sauce. Take a 9-by-13 pan or a similar-sized cassarole dish. I grease the bottom with olive oil, though I probably don't need to. You can also put some sauce in the bottom. Put down a layer of zucchini and sprinkle with onions. Layer the other things, in no particular order, repeating as necessary. One time I didn't have a lot of sauce so I saved most of it to pour over the top. I make sure I get a couple of layers of cheese in there, though. Top with sauce, then cheese. Bake at 350 or so for a while...oh, maybe 30 or 45 minutes? It takes a while for the zucchini to get tender since you start with it raw. I just keep checking it. Last time I left it in too long and the cheese on top got rather brownish, but it still tasted good. :) I've also included cooked, chopped chicken to add some more substance. Good reheated as leftovers...

I do like sweet things too, though. And the recipe for zucchini bars that Cheri posted looks very, very good. I'm going to have to try it when I find me a bit of free time.


4 comments:

Anna said...

Zucchini must in abundance everywhere right now--two posts so far this evening pertaining to the subject... here's a link for another recipe.

http://caroleah.com/2009/08/31/roasted-corn-and-zucchini-soup-with-fresh-herbs-and-pesto.aspx?ref=rss

That's about all that Becca's garden is producing at the moment so it's nice to have a little variety. :)

Steven said...

Aaaaand, Don't forget that you can also use them as ammunition in potato guns.

Cheri said...

Ooo, both recipes look delicious! I'll have to print them out and add them to my now-growing collection of zucchini recipes. =)

And thanks again for coming up this evening. It's always a blessing to have you guys here.

Cheri said...

I made the casserole recipe last night, and it was very tasty. I love the flavors. Next time I'll be sure to add tomato paste (we didn't have any on hand...) as we had lots of runny tomato water at the bottom.