YOUR FAV ZUC RECIPE?
I am delighted to report that we have so many zucchini that we are eating them at every meal and so are Molly and Sheila and Poppy and even Manu. Though John: not so much – he is already ‘over’ them. Even the dogs have grated zucchini ( and egg) mixed into their raw meat feeds.
The one trade off with eating from your own garden is that you eat a lot of what is growing well. So, what is your favorite recipe for zucchini or courgette as we call them at home in New Zealand?
The cows are all locked into smaller pastures so the big pastures can grow for a few weeks now that it has started to rain again. Otherwise they nibble those new shoots straight off before they get any traction.
So, go ahead. the abridged version of your favourite recipes for zuc’s!
If it is a long recipe maybe you can post it on your own site and link it back to me!
Come on. I am all ears.
My favourite is to grate the zuchinni into a tea towel lined colander, salt slightly and leave to drain then wring out the last of the moisture. Add 2 eggs, 1 tablespoon of flour, finely chopped onion, some feta cheese, a little hot pepper and fresh herbs. Pepper and salt. I cook these as patties in hot butter and live off them all day. They are just as good cold as they are hot!
I hope you are well and having a great day.
Love celi
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54 Comments on “YOUR FAV ZUC RECIPE?”
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thekitchensgarden 
I have so many recipes as we too have endless courgettes. Some are on my blog but most not unfortunately. They do make a delicious cake, similar to carrot cake.
I must do that – I keep forgetting to add to cakes! Thank you Nadia
Zucchini sweet bread is my favorite (with cinnamon, nutmeg, and toasted pecans). I think I mentioned this in the comments of another post, but take your extra, grate it, and freeze it in one cup portions. Then all you need do is pull a bag or two out of the freezer anytime you want to and don’t have fresh stuff any more and you can add it to soups, sauces, eggs, zucchini bread, etc just like it was fresh.
What a great idea. Thank you.
Yes – there are not many successful ways to preserve zucchini. Shall do!
I chop up a couple of pieces of bacon into small pieces. Saute them until mostly done. Then add sliced zucchini and sliced onion. Saute it all until they are tender and browning. We do yellow squash this way too.
about the only other way I use them is in stir fry where I use meat, zuchinni, celery, onion, chinese straw mushrooms, bamboo shoots and water chestnuts into the wok with a sauce. most time just use light soy sauce, garlic and ginger. there are plenty of easy stir fry sauce recipes on the net.
Your stir fry sounds delicious!
In my first garden I grew zucchini. I had a bumper crop. I used it for zucchini and pineapple jam and ground it up in everything. So much so that my two sons were suspicious of every delicious offering placed before them. Poke it with their fork and ask “Is there zucchini in this?”
I like your fritter recipe. I like it raw in spears, as an ingredient in a stir fry and stewed with onions and tomatoes. It’s all great. But like John, you get over it after awhile. Enjoy.
Zucchini and pineapple jam!!! Sounds delicious
Who doesn’t need at least one good recipe for zucchini chocolate cake?
I certainly need one!!
I’m a fan of zucchini quiche. Seasoned with oregano, onion, parrm and garlic. I let it marinate in the seasonings for 4 hours or so.
The marinating is a good idea …
I miss having all the zukes I had last year 😦 But zucchini bread is my first go to besides making zucchini pickles.
Zucchini bread is very American – at least I had never heard of it ‘til I came here – thank you miss T
Really? Did not know that but the pickles are great. The few that I got this year went right into the pickling jars. Morning miss C
Lime Zucchini Sponge
Cake: 250g grated zucchini (top, tail & weigh before grating, drain in colander), 2 large eggs, beaten, ½ cup sunflower oil, 150g or ¾ cup caster (superfine) sugar, 1½ cups self-raising flour, ½ tsp each of baking powder, bicarb soda and vanilla essence, grated zest of 3 large or 4 small limes
Frosting: 1 cup pure icing (powdered) sugar, juice of 1 lime (you need about 3 tblsp), ¼ cup moist coconut flakes (not desiccated coconut, it’s too dry)
Preheat oven to 170°C/350°C. Thoroughly oil a bundt or tube tin. Beat eggs, oil and sugar till slightly frothy.. Fold in flour, baking powder, bicarb, vanilla and lime zest*, mixing just enough to ensure there are no dry patches. Fold in the grated drained zucchini. Pour batter into bundt tin, tap tin on bench to level mix. Bake for 30 mins, or till lightly browned and a skewer comes out clean. Cool on a rack for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a sheet of baking paper, and return to wire rack till cool. Mix sifted icing (powdered) sugar and coconut flakes. Add lime juice a tablespoonful at a time; start with 2 and add more a little at a time after that. You want a blobby paste that dribbles slowly off the spoon. Spread over top of ring. Keep the cake in an airtight container. Do not refrigerate or the frosting will disappear into the cake and the cake will become dry. *I grate the zest into a bowl, and then put the flour in on top of it. The flour soaks up any oil from the zest which would otherwise be lost in the bowl. It helps to keep the flavour really intense.
Sorry, my measurements are all Australian metric cup sizes and weights. Our cups are a little larger than US cups and 250g = just over 8 ounces, if that helps. If you don’t have self-raising flour, use all purpose with an extra teaspoon of baking powder.
This sounds divine! Thank you Kate
It’s a family favourite. Also good with lemon, but lime is the one I like best.
Zucchini curry soup. I’m with John though, zucchini are triphids set on taking over the world.
But he loves a good curry! So I bet this will be a winner
Love, love, love zucchini and use it with wild abandon.
Zuchini, string beans, potatoes, onions, garlic in a large pan. Tomato sauce or canned, peeled tomatoes, oregano, salt and pepper and roast. A loaf of bread and that’s it.
I use it sliced atop a frittata.
Wow . Perfect peasant food. This is great! Thank you!
Gosh, it seems that some garden years are either boom or bust!!! Sadly this year has been a bust year with zucchini! But, we do have it growing now for a fall crop, so hopefully it will come on strong! My favorite is the fritters you mentioned, and zucchini bread. But I add to the bread and it becomes
Zucchini Banana Carrot Nut Bread. Really good!!! 🙂
I make a wonderful summer squash blended cold soup with chicken stock, milk, green onions, dill & tarragon, & sour cream, sprinkled with chives. It might work with zucchini, chicken stock, green onions, basil & thyme, cherry tomatoes & white wine? My favorite is ratatouille, but you’ve already made that. I’m going to make your patties right away!
That sounds like a really refreshing soup.
My DILs all spiral cut them and use the result like pasta.
Zoodles!
Loving it as a pasta substitute – nuke till al dente, add sauce & enjoy. Also cut into shorter ‘noodle’ pieces and cover in pickle juice – pickled beet juice, too. Nice little salad topping and pretty pink color if beet juice used. Wai doesn’t like zucchini??
Grilled and topped with lemon butter
Like sauteed cucumber – peel, cut in 1/2 ,de-seed, slice in 1/4 inch slices – salt, pepper, butter, fresh dill (this maybe my favorite way to have them)
In BREAD! 🙂
I love the Curried Zucchini Soup. I always make a batch whenever I have extra. https://morrisbrookfarm.wordpress.com/2012/09/22/got-zucchini/
Zucchini Vichyssoise — excellent on a hot and muggy midwestern day. https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/zucchini-vichyssoise-106935
Zucchini bread with coconut, orange zest and orange juice along with the usual suspects: flour, canola oil, 2 eggs, baking powder, baking soda and salt…makes 2 loaves using 8″x4″ loaf pans or about 15 cupcakes…..quite delicious.
whoops forgot to mention that there’s a bit of sugar in the bread also!
I will be trying those courgette patties!
Love them but Big Man is not keen! Courgette omelette, just grate them, stir fry lightly then add to the eggs. Sliced lengthways then griddled then eat as is or drizzled with olive oil and balsamic or lemon juice, stir the griddled strips into pasta then lots of parmesan over the top. Cut into thick batons, dipped in a light flour and fizzy water batter then deep fried, courgette risotto, sliced in half lengthways, hollowed out and filled with bechamel and grated cheese then oven baked xxxx
Your bread ( in NZ we call that a Loaf isn’t language interesting.) and your bread sounds wonderful
I LOVE to eat zucchini bread.
When the weather’s too hot for cooking it, zucchini makes a great neutral thickener for smoothies, both sweet and savory. You can always take the peels off and give them to other dishes or to the animals if the color doesn’t work with your fruit/veg blend of choice. Same goes for thickening soups with it. I tend to leave the skins on for the extra nutrition and flavor, but if sharing I pay more attention to appearances!
My favorite of Mom’s zucchini preps was plain shredded, sautéed with butter, and swirled just before serving (as a side dish) with some sour cream & salt/pepper to taste. She never bothered with the salt-and-drain step your fritters require, and while the results could be a little watery at times, I never tired of the simple combo.
As with the majority of veg, zucchini works beautifully when simply roasted, and my favorite toppers for them all are browned butter and fresh or grilled lemon. Sometimes, also, fried sage leaves. Wonder how sage would taste with zucchini? Guess I’ll have to try it. I suspect I’d like fried basil leaves better with ze zukes. Crispy herbs and fat. Mmm.
I love your belted beauty’s bicolored horns! So fashionable, your beasties.
xoxo,
K
Zucchini chips are good, too!
When we can get them, they will be sliced thinly then sauted in butter until tender and served or sliced in half lengthwise, dotted with butter and baked until almost done then topped with mozzerella and left till the cheese is lovely and gooey. My mother would occasionally cut them up, cook them like potatoes and mash them the same way. (she would do the same with white or yellow turnips). I had zuccini cookies but couldn’t get the recipe for them. My spouse slices them in half, puts in butter, some finely chopped onion and garlic, wraps them in foil and puts them on the grill or in the oven.
I’ve been cutting them into little disks and putting them on a sheet pan with a little parmesan and baking for just long enough to barely soften. But I think your recipe sounds incredibly tasty and I think I’ll try that tonight!
The G.O. won’t eat zucchini, not even the ubiquitous zucchini slice… unless they are pickled. This is a really good recipe from Grown & Gathered. Adjust quantities depending on harvest. Really really good made with tiny zucchinis (our crop was blighted with fungus last year so I had to pick really early to save any).
800g zucchini, mandolined or finely sliced
1 small (100g) onion, mandolined or finely sliced
1 tablespoon unrefined salt
1 tablespoon mustard seeds
¾ teaspoon celery seeds
160ml white wine vinegar
½ cup raw sugar
1¼ teaspoons dried turmeric
METHOD
Place zucchini, onion and salt in a mixing bowl and combine thoroughly. Place in the fridge for at least 6 hours or overnight.
Rinse zucchini and onion under cool water and drain well.
Place drained zucchini, onion, mustard and celery seeds in a mixing bowl and combine thoroughly. Stuff gently into a 1L jar.
Place vinegar, sugar and turmeric in a pot and heat gently while stirring until all sugar dissolves. Add to jar, filling to 1 cm below lip.
For cold pickles, ie kept in the fridge you only need to go as far as the above. Give them a few days before opening to really get the flavours happening. They will keep for a month but will probably be eaten before then!
For shelf preserves, treat further, as follows.
Screw on the lid so it is firmly in position without over-tightening (it’s not how tight you screw on the lid, but the vacuum created as the jar cools, that forms the seal), and place jar in the deepest pot you have. Fill the pot to within 5 cm of the top of the jar, cover and gently heat to 72-80°C. Maintain in this heat range for 40 minutes to pasteurise and seal the jars.
After 40 minutes carefully check that the lid has remained firmly in position and adjust if necessary. You can leave the jar to cool in the water bath, or carefully remove and leave to cool on the bench. Once cooled the lid should have sucked down. If it hasn’t, repeat the water bath process with a new lid.
Will keep for at least 1 year on the shelf. Open and enjoy when you are ready and once open store in the fridge. Best eaten from 3 months onwards.
Terrific recipe Dale! On top of my list to prepare when zucchini are abundant again . . . love the celery seeds and addition of turmeric . . .
Not a recipe, but I use my julienne peeler to make zucchini “pasta”. I use half pasta and half zucchini to make a lighter dinner in Summer. Just throw it in the boiling water with the pasta right at the end for 10 seconds or so. My pasta sauce is usually homemade and has plenty of zucchini in it too. I also use my dehydrator to dehydrate the big ones that I missed and are too big for eating. I then put the dehydrated chips in a blender and have zucchini powder. I add this to pizza bases, soups, bread, anything really! all Winter.
Aha! Zucchini powder! I never thought of that!! Excellent!
Love zucchini cut in halves lengthwise, stuffed and baked – eat hot or cold . . . . stuff with any mince meat mixture suitable for ragu or patties (curried ones are yum!) . . . or I love any Middle Eastern recipes: Israeli couscous, brown rice or bean mixes – any stirfry type combination you normally use but give it flavour. Also grate raw for pita stuffing for lunch or supper, salads, open sandwiches etc . . . . I eat them throughout the year and almost every day . . .
I make a tasty relish, good on burgers, bratwurst or really any meat sandwich.
12 cups shredded unpeeled zucchini, 4 cups chopped onion, 5 Tbspns canning salt, 1 red bell pepper chopped, 1 green bell pepper chopped, 4 cups sugar, 2-1/2 cups cider vinegar, 2 Tbspns cornstarch, 3/4 tspn ground nutmeg, 3/4 tspn ground turmeric, 1-1/2 tspns celery seed, 1/2 tspn ground black pepper, (can substitute 1 Tbspn dry mustard and 1/8 tspn cayenne for last two). Salt the zuc. & onion, cover & refrigerate overnight, drain and rinse with cool water the next day. Place all but zuch/onion mix in a pot, stir to combine then add the zuch. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 30 min. Pack into jars and water bath 30 minutes.
Oh this IS a good one! I will make it for sure / I love relishes!
Whenever I have a glut of zucchini, I make this. With all the optional ingredients. It’s so very good. https://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/my-special-zucchini-bread-recipe-recipe.html
It was so dry that all my zucchini plants died (unbelievable, I know) but I have been accepting them from a friend. You can do a slaw with them–very thinly sliced or matchsticks, then marinate in your favorite vinaigrette for 2-4 hours before eating. I also cube and put on skewers with peppers and onions and mushrooms , brush with olive oil and grill on the barbecue.
This lounge was amazing. So many good ideas.
Great photos Celi … I’ll have to hunt down the zucchini recipe 🙂
We use it as pasta – can be cut in planks to make lasagne, or use a spiraliser to make ‘noodles’ for spaghetti and meatballs.
Oh yes! Lasagne – I never thought of that!!