Courgette/Zucchini glut

[jackal10]

As always, I planted too many courgette/zucchini plants, and so I am over-run with them, even picking them small. What can I do with them for a vegetable side dish? My standards are:

Fried (sliced in rounds, or grated)

Deep fried

Steamed

Pureed

With tomato sauce; ratatouille

Souffle

I exclude horrors like boats. or watery quiche. This is for a side dish to go with a roast chicken, for example

Probably put them straight on the compost heap is the right answer.

[mrbigjas]

Can you nip them in the bud, so to speak, by picking flowers as they appear?

Zucchini/courgette fritters were always a favorite in our family.

What do you mean by "boats?" You mean stuffed? Because stuffed with rice or another grain, well seasoned, maybe with a little hard cheese browned on top, they're a meal in themselves.

[Gifted Gourmet]

My usual recipe calls for:

slicing them lengthwise into fairly wide substantial strips

sauteing the strips in a good olive oil with salt, pepper, and fresh garlic (lots!)

then, halfway through, I add a jar of Barilla Olive Tomato Sauce

simmer and enjoy! you can top this with a lovely grated cheese and brown under the broiler ... it is sooo good!

[hathor]

Absolutely zucchini flowers!!!

Try this as a salad replacement, or cold side dish: thinly slice the squash lengthwise, marinate in lemon juice and and a bit salt for 3-4 hours. To serve, roll the slices into little rolls, stack or arrange them, throw a little chopped parsley over them, and a tiny drizzle of olive oil. For something so simple, they're addictive.

[frdagaa]

I had a great pasta dish in Rome with squid ink tagliatelle in a zucchini sauce. I've since approximated it, and it turned out well. Basically, make the sauce with pureed cooked zucchini and anchovies and some parmesean. Mix in some barely cooked zuch juliennes and top the whole thing with sliced zuch blossums. Delish.

[Jason Perlow]

Torakris's Zucchini Fritatta:

http://recipes.egullet.com/recipes/r311.html

Rachel made this recently, it was great.

[rancho_gordo]

Zucchini fritters!

[Carrot Top]

Finely julienned and combined with carrots cut the same, sauteed lightly in butter or olive oil....

Raw spears, served with a variety of other fresh vegetables with a dip of some sort...

Layered up in a vegetable lasagne...

With mint and hot peppers if you like them in a 'risotto' made either with rice or orzo...

Gratineed in the oven, layered either with tomatoes, onions, garlic, etc. or alternately with a light bechamel enriched with cheese or not...either one topped with browned crumbs or not...

[eunny jang]

Pickles, pickles, pickles!

An excellent stand-in for a salad during the summer.

Judy Rogers has an excellent one in the Zuni Cafe cookbook.

[tanabutler]

Zucchini fritters with feta cheese are just about my favorite way to use them in the history of time. (Or is that "the history of thyme"?)

Recipe for zucchini fritters posted at Readerville

Also, The Greens Cook Book has a recipe for zucchini (matchsticks) in pasta with pine nuts, lemon, and herbs.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, and meanwhile...

You need 1/2 pound zucchini cut into matchstick-sized pieces. 1/2 cups mixed fresh herbs (marjoram, basil, lemon thyme, and/or oregano are my choices--include the flowers). 1 lemon (remove a thin sliver of peel and mince it into fine slivers).

Heat 2 T olive oil and add 5 T pine nuts. Cook until they begin to color, then add 4 shallots (sliced thin, chopped rough), cook over medium-low until the shallots are soft. Transfer to a wide bowl and add 4 T olive oil, 4 t capers (rinsed or not; I prefer not), the lemon peel, 2 sun-dried tomatoes (cut into narrow strips), and the herbs. Season with salt, pepper and 1/2 t. or so lemon juice.

Add the zucchini and cook it for about one minute. Remove the zucchini (without dumping the water) and drain/shake off the water. Add cooked zucchini to the other ingredients.

Cook taglierini pasta and add it to the bowl, too. (You will, of course, know to drain the pasta appropriately.) Toss with tongs, top with grated Parmesan cheese.

That is my little sister's favorite recipe in the world.

Edited July 20, 2004 by tanabutler (log)

[JSD]

Bugs ate all of my zucchini plants this year, so I'm jealous.

My favorite use of zucchini is soup from Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Basically, you cook the zucchini in stock until soft, and then blend it until smooth. It's seasoned with a dollop of vinegar, sour cream, and dill. It's wonderful.

I think zucchini is pretty watery unless you salt it. If I'm going to make fritters or a vegetable stir fry, I think it's essential to grate it, salt it, and let it drain. I love zucchini with feta, too. I have several oregano plants just for teaming up with zucchini and feta, and tomatoes when they ripen.

I think the worse thing to do is to serve it underseasoned and watery. I think that's how people grew up with it, and no wonder they don't like it.

[irodguy]

Grate Zucchini Sprinkle lightly with salt and put in colander to drain

Mix drained Zucchini with

Bread Crumbs

Parmesan

Crushed Garlic

Oregano

Eggs One per about every two large zucchinis

You can also add grated carrots

Pretty much your standard Italian style fritters

Fry in 50% 50% (50% OO , 50% Canola)

Or For something a little different

Hollow out your Zucchini

Ground Meat ( I like lamb for this)

Feta

Mint or Oregano

Sea Salt

Crushed Red Pepper

Eggs

Mix the meat and stuff the Zucchini. Cook at 350. serve with your favorte version of Tzatziki

[GG Mora]

Pack a few small bags full. Leave them conspicuously in church pews (on Sunday), on Post Office work tables, in the passenger seat of unlocked cars, on stranger's doorsteps.

A fellow in town here takes those that have grown to baseball-bat size and impales them at strange angles on his fence posts.

[bloviatrix]

I slice them thin and then saute in a butter/evoo combo. Maybe throw in a bit of garlic. Then, I add them to an egg and milk mixture, and place the dish in a water bath in a 350 oven to make zucchini flan.

You can also make zucchini bread. Maybe someone can give you a recipe for them.

[sparrowgrass]

Brush with olive oil, sprinkle with whatever kinda herbs ya got, and grill. I use an Italian blend, and add a little parm when I take them off the grill.

[nessa]

I suppose yellow squash could be used in these recipes too?

My coworker's parents ahve a huge garden, and he just brought me more zucchini, yellow squash, tomatos and green peppers. an something else that might be a really pale, fat cucumber, or some other kind of squash.

The zucchini is going for zucchini bread, and I have to figure out what to make with the rest of this batch of goodies. I've already got the last batch in the freezer.

Edited July 19, 2004 by nessa (log)

[Pickles]

I exclude horrors like boats. or watery quiche.

A watery quiche can result from not cooking your vegetables dry enough. You really need to saute/étouffée your zuchhini and evap all that ooze. I am not fond of this vegetable as a rule, but a couple days ago a neighbor gave me some and I decided to slice them in half, then in quarters, sprinkle with olive oil, garlic and oregano and microwave the chunks, covered for about 8 minutes. I let them stand so they came to room temperature and grated some parmesan on 'em. The texture was amazing. All fluffy inside and the zucchini had flavor as well. I plan to cook it like this a lot this summer. I also slice them thinly and make bread and butter pickles with tons of fresh dill and garlic. I keep a jar in the fridge to pad out salads when I am dieting.

[andiesenji]

This pickle recipe my pickle recipe

also works well with squash and etc.

[Carlovski]

Brush with olive oil, sprinkle with whatever kinda herbs ya got, and grill. I use an Italian blend, and add a little parm when I take them off the grill.

I agree - when they are freshly picked, the grilling treatment is the best.

Simply dressed with a little bit of lemon juice is good.

[kiliki]

I suggest fritters as well. But, if you can't stand to eat any more zucchini in any form, why don't you drop them off at your local food bank? Fresh produce is probably especially appreciated.

[fresco]

Zucchini pakoras, but that's really just a variation on fritters, isn't it?

[Tracy K.]

Oh how dare you brag about your squash!!! Our weather has been so strange here that my plants have barely started to show buds!

How about donating some of the veggies to your local soup kitchen or "plant a row" for the hungry organization? Or, you can do like our neighbors in Jersey used to do...just leave a bag-full by your door....

Somewhere I'll dig up my recipe for a zucchini quiche that's mostly sauteed squash with herbs, eggs and lots of cheese, spread over a par-baked pie crust that's been spread with dijon mustard...freezes great...not at all watery.

[curlywurlyfi]

this is my take on what I think was a Hugo Arnold recipe in the Evening Standard a million years ago:

- top, tail + slice courgettes lengthways, cut into 1" chunks

- chunk tomatoes similarly

- chunk stale baguette similarly (proportion wise, you want 1:1:2, tomatoes:bread:courgettes, but it's not an exact science)

- toss all in olive oil, crushed garlic, chopped parsley, little grated Parmesan, season well

- put into tian, drizzle more olive oil, sprinkle more Parmesan

- bake until veg are soft and squashy and catching at the edges, and bread (the bits that you can see) is gold and crisp

Really good with roast lamb.

[tryska]

i like to simply cut them into sticks and sautee with olive oil, sea salt and crushed black pepper. simple and yummy.

and there's always zucchini bread.