Zucchini Season

It’s been a really good season for zucchini this year. Try this when you are tired of grilling and frying them.

Pickled

• Cut zucchini and cucumbers into half inch slices, place in a jar.
• Add some cherry tomatoes, garlic, dill, thyme, oregano and/or any herbs of your choice.
• Pour hot marinade (2 tbsp salt per 4 cups of water)

Leave it at room temperature and after just 24 hours, you can enjoy a beautiful assortment of pickled veggies, with zucchini as the real star of the jar!

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Zucchini eggs

• Thinly slice a small zucchini using a box grinder or a mandoline
• Add some salt and wait for 5 minutes for the zucchini to release water
• Place a nonstick buttered skillet on medium high heat
• Wipe zucchini slices with a paper towel and arrange on a skillet in a nice layer
• In a couple of minutes when the zucchini starts browning pour 2 beaten eggs
• Add some tomatoes, chives, shredded cheese or any garnish you like

Enjoy! Zucchini creates really nice almost sweet crust for the eggs.

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Blended Ratatoulle (Икра)

Just cook your ratatouille the way you usually do (or as I suggest below) and after it’s cooked and chilled (at least a little) – put it all in a blender and puree. It creates a very delicious, creamy, and versatile vegetable dip, which you can spice to your liking and serve warm right away, room temperature or cold, and can be a sauce or a side for any fish, chicken or meat. I can eat it with a spoon, but if you put that spoon on a slice of good rye bread – it’s hard to stop.

• Start with roasting onions (and you don’t have to chop them too fine as it will all be blended) on medium high heat.
• When onions turn golden – add eggplant as they cook the longest
• Once eggplant gets some golden crust – add chopped zucchini
• When zucchini softens add garlic and chili pepper (optional)
• Add chopped tomatoes, you can also add tomato paste, herbs of your choice (thyme, oregano, parsley)
• Mix everything, check for seasoning, cover the lid, reduce the heat and let it cook for about 15 min till all the vegetables are fully cooked
• The vegetable size and proportions are very flexible, you can also saute every vegetable separately
• You can add salt and pepper to every vegetable as you add it or season the whole pot when all the ingredients are in
• Turn the heat off, let it cool (at least slightly), place in a blender or food processor and puree. Check the dip for seasoning and adjust if needed.

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Zucchini crepes inside and out.

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For the out – The crepes themselves are made with ground zucchini. They melt in your mouth, but stuffed with herbed cheese – it is a complete meal.

Here is how you make the crepes:

• Grate small to medium fresh zucchini or yellow squash (the finer the grate the better, I found it was best using the food processor). You may peel it if it doesn’t look fresh enough, I didn’t. If a zucchini is not too watery – don’t squeeze it. It will make your crepes delicately sweet and silky. If it is too watery – discard some of it.
• Add about 5 tbsp of flour
• Add 1 egg
• Pinch of salt
• 1 tsp of sugar (optional, zucchini are sweet enough)
• Combine everything together
• Gradually add 1 cup of milk, stirring constantly so there are no lump
• Add 1 tbsp of light olive oil or canola oil to the batter (any oil you use for frying)
• Heat not stick pan on medium heat, add 1 tbsp light oil (you won’t need to add oil later, it’s already in the batter)
• Fry the crepes about 1-2 min on each side (1st side usually takes 2 min, 1 min after flipping them)
• Taste the 1st one for salt and adjust as needed.
• For the filling mix cottage or ricotta cheese with finely chopped herbs – dill/parsley/cilantro/garlic (optional), add a spoon of sour cream or yogurt for smoother consistency.

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And with the inside:

The inside is a hash of zucchini, onions and carrots.

Start roasting onions till slightly golden, then add carrots, zucchini and optionally chili pepper if you want it spicy, then add salt and pepper. Keep frying all together on medium heat till all cooked through (about 10-15 minutes). The hash is quite delicious, I would eat it with a spoon, but wrapped in a crepe makes it an extraordinary breakfast or lunch.

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