Help! Zucchini Tsunami.

Hi everyone. I'm a home cook who likes sharp shiny things just a little too much. My wife got the veggie garden going again this year after a few years of being too busy.

Amongst it all, we have 5 zucchini (courgette) and 2 (yellow button) squash plants and they are prolific. We are getting around 2 kilos a day.

I need some ideas for cooking zucchini and squash.

We are getting a bit over steamed zucchini, sauteed zucchini, zucchini fritters, zucchini slice and zucchini pasta. I've even tried using it finely diced in a sofritto (which seems to work OK and the knife work is fun). I've renamed my Mizuno 270 "Zucchini slayer".

Thanks in advance to you clever chefs and cooks for some more tasty ideas.

Keep in mind that it's the height of summer here and we are getting mid 30s celcius most days and the 40 degree days are not far off.

Make a nice frittata!

Or a salty pie and you can add a bit of salsiccia inside as well

preizzo said:

Make a nice frittata!

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Actually frittata's a bit of a family staple. Helps to get through the eggs too (chooks are on the the lay at the moment).

But thanks.

preizzo said:

Or a salty pie and you can add a bit of salsiccia inside as well

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That's a good idea. Thanks Prezzio. Our local butcher employs an Italian chef (I think he said he's from Bologna, because we were discussing recipees for ragu). He makes what they market as "Italian Saussage" which is very tasty and sounds like it might be very similar to salcsiccia.

Minestrone also it s a good idea, you can get rid of a lot of zucchini. And most important is that you gonna use a lot your knives to chop all ingredients.
I would use carrots, onion, leek, chard, potatoes, spinach, lentils and borlotti beans. Use some tomato paste when you fry the onion and garlic helps a lot

preizzo said:

Minestrone also it s a good idea, you can get rid of a lot of zucchini. And most important is that you gonna use a lot your knives to chop all ingredients.
I would use carrots, onion, leek, chard, potatoes, spinach, lentils and borlotti beans. Use some tomato paste when you fry the onion and garlic helps a lot

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Great idea. Thanks.

preizzo said:

And most important is that you gonna use a lot your knives to chop all ingredients.

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And this bit made me smile

😊 de 😂

I am always make minestrone when I want to try a knife 😂

Zucchini bread is delicious! My grandmother used to make it when I was a kid. Mmmmm!

@Prezzio: Ahhhh. I like. I find zucchini really tests a knife's food release.

Noah said:

Zucchini bread is delicious! My grandmother used to make it when I was a kid. Mmmmm!

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I wasn't sure if it was zucchini or courgette in USA. I'm geussing zucchini?

My wife suggested zucchini bread, which might be a good idea. Unfortunately I don't eat flour.

I made a zucchini and cucumber salsa tonitght. Not too bad.

cut them in half long ways and charr them pretty dark covered in salt and pepper, they should be cooked through at this point:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BIqrQx2htC8/?taken-by=cheflivengood

then press them with weight for an hour in a pan, a lot of dark liquid will come out which is a great soup base. process the pressed squash with yogurt and your favorite hot sauce or spices, makes a nice dip for crudite or fold it into pasta etc etc.

Thanks CLG, this sounds delicious

Always enjoyed fresh raw zucchini sliced very thin (mandonline but why bother with a zucchini slayer) tossed with very good olive oil, fresh cracked black pepper, parmesan shavings, fresh black pepper, lemon zest, and spritzed with fresh squeezed lemon juice as you are serving, finished with some nice finishing salt. Great summertime dish and an excellent way to show off the zucchini flavor.

I like Chefliven good's treatment, will try that. For my more simple tastes I like it grilled and as a side veg. Can go nuts and grill zuc, onions, mushrooms, red/yellow bells for a bit of a veg salad. Toss with some rocket.

Sliced 1/4" thick, breaded with panko and parma and pan fried

Pickles

Cut 1" thick, core center, stuff with meatball forcemeat. Bake until cooked through. Serve with red sauce next to pasta.

my neighbor dumped a bunch on me. i roasted them, then put them into boiling chicken stock with some saute'd onions..then took the stick blender to it and turned it into a giant vat of zucchini soup. salt and white pepper to taste.

i took some back to the neighbor and he was stunned..very vegital and herbaceous tasting.

oh, garnish with parsley..altho i like cilantro.

Noah said:

Zucchini bread is delicious! My grandmother used to make it when I was a kid. Mmmmm!

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You don't eat any form of flour, or did you mean certain grains such as wheat perhaps? If the latter, there are plenty of ways to make bread without any particular grain...

Ratatouille, grilled caponata (instead of eggplant), pancakes, tempura

+1 on panda

skiajl6297 said:

Always enjoyed fresh raw zucchini sliced very thin (mandonline but why bother with a zucchini slayer) tossed with very good olive oil, fresh cracked black pepper, parmesan shavings, fresh black pepper, lemon zest, and spritzed with fresh squeezed lemon juice as you are serving, finished with some nice finishing salt. Great summertime dish and an excellent way to show off the zucchini flavor.

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I like this idea. Thanks.

daveb said:

I like Chefliven good's treatment, will try that. For my more simple tastes I like it grilled and as a side veg. Can go nuts and grill zuc, onions, mushrooms, red/yellow bells for a bit of a veg salad. Toss with some rocket.

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Yeah, did lots of grilled zucch and squash on Xmas day

Mucho Bocho said:

Sliced 1/4" thick, breaded with panko and parma and pan fried

Pickles

Cut 1" thick, core center, stuff with meatball forcemeat. Bake until cooked through. Serve with red sauce next to pasta.

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My daughter makes fritters, but I like the panko and parma idea.

I'm going to make a nuka bed to m make some pickles.

Stuffed is a good idea.

boomchakabowwow said:

my neighbor dumped a bunch on me. i roasted them, then put them into boiling chicken stock with some saute'd onions..then took the stick blender to it and turned it into a giant vat of zucchini soup. salt and white pepper to taste.

i took some back to the neighbor and he was stunned..very vegital and herbaceous tasting.

oh, garnish with parsley..altho i like cilantro.

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Good idea.

Noah said:

You don't eat any form of flour, or did you mean certain grains such as wheat perhaps? If the latter, there are plenty of ways to make bread without any particular grain...

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It's more af a dietary choice than any sort of food sensitivity. My metabolism doesn't cope well with refined carbs, so I limit them to when I'm doing strenuous exercise. The rest of my family eat them like they are going out of fashion though

panda said:

Ratatouille, grilled caponata (instead of eggplant), pancakes, tempura

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We are actually getting a bit of rain at the moment, so a stew might work well.
Pancakes are a great idea. Maybe a rosti?
Tempura- yeah, I did want to learn a bit of Japanese cooking.

Thanks for the great ideas everyone. Keep them coming.