Easy Recipes

There are so many zucchini recipes — especially as summer draws to a close, and fatigue sets in — that seek to sort of bury the squash. Shred it into a cake, where its hidden behind chocolate, or perhaps a brown butter cornbread. And theres good reason to do this. Zucchini actually excels in these treatments, where it gives otherwise-starchy dishes a healthy dose of green, and some moisture to boot. Also: So! Much! Zucchini! But even in the midst of the onslaught, its sometimes nice to have dishes that really let the zucchini shine. Like this stuffed zucchini.

There are versions of stuffed zucchini heaping with cups of breadcrumbs, or layered with gooey cheese, or spicy chorizo, or lord-knows-what. But this one is all about the zucchini. You scoop out the innards, and then cook them down with onion and tomato while the shells soften up a bit in the oven. You can add some basil (or not), and just the merest sprinkling of cheese (or not). Then a sprinkling of just enough breadcrumbs to bind the mixture, and the whole thing goes back in the oven. The end result doesnt have big bold flavors, or a magical wheres-the-squash transformation. It tastes simple, rich and sweet. And a lot like zucchini.


Simple Stuffed Zucchini
serves 4

4 good-sized zucchini
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus additional for the pan and topping
1 onion, diced fine
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 good-sized tomatoes, diced
1 handful basil (optional), torn or chopped
scant 1/4 cup breadcrumbs (or as needed)
1 handful grated parmesan, optional
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat your oven to 400° Fahrenheit. Rinse the zucchini, and slice off the stems and any woody blossom scars on the ends. With a spoon, scoop out the innards (setting them aside), leaving a small rim around the end to keep things together. Drizzle a little olive oil in a large casserole dish, salt the insides of the zucchini, and lay them, cut side down, in the casserole. Drizzle a little more oil over the tops, and bake while you prepare the remaining ingredients (~half an hour).

Heat a large frypan or Dutch oven over a medium-high heat, and pour in the 2 tablespoons olive oil. Add the onions, along with a pinch of salt, and cook, stirring occasionally, until they are softened and translucent but havent browned, ~5-7 minutes (adjust the heat as needed). While the onion is cooking, chop the reserved zucchini innards into a rough dice, and set aside. When the onion has softened, add the garlic, and cook for another minute to soften. Then add the zucchini innards and tomatoes, and basil if youve got it. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the zucchini is all cooked through (~10 minutes, give or take). It will give off a lot of liquid. Remove from heat, and add enough breadcrumbs to sop up the liquid into a moist stuffing-like consistency (the exact amount will vary depending upon how much liquid your particular zukes and tomatoes have given off, and how much of that has cooked away). Allow to cool slightly, then add parmesan, and season (rather aggressively) with salt and pepper to taste.

Remove the zucchini shells from the oven, and flip them back to boat position (being careful to avoid the steam!). Mound the filling back into the shells, and top with a drizzle of olive oil. Return to the oven and bake until everything is sizzly and delicious and just beginning to brown — about half an hour. Serve warm.

I am totally loving on zucchini this summer. I have been making versions of this summer stir-fry, shaving it into long thin ribbons, and (more often than not) stewing it with garlic and olive oil forever, until it just slumps into deliciousness. And I also made this cornbread.

I have long been a fan of the many uses of zucchini, and how its flaws are actually its assets, if you just look at them in the right light. Like you know how it has a fairly subtle flavor, and can be kinda watery? Well, that just means you can easily slip it into your cornbread, where it adds a gentle green note, and keeps things tender and moist. I know, right?

This recipe is a fairly standard quickbread, though it goes a step further and browns the butter for a nutty taste ( a step I always recommend taking). The end result is somewhere between cornbread and zucchini bread, and a nice welcome change from either of the two. While less desserty than zucchini bread, it definitely falls on the sweeter end of the cornbread spectrum — but after a childhood relationship with doughnut shop corn muffins, thats how I like it (I even play up the subtle sweetness a bit more with a sanding of sugar across the top). Its a delicious snack to go with your afternoon tea (or iced tea, depending on the weather), and paired with a handful of blackberries or slice of cheese it makes for a perfect summer breakfast.

And if youd like to hear me say more kind words about zucchini, you can check out this intervew I did with No Chefs Allowed, over on Heritage Radio. Complete with ummms and upspeak and awkward oh-do-I-talk-now? pauses. It turns out being interviewed on the radio is totally nervous-making. Who knew?


Brown Butter Zucchini Cornbread

from Bon Appetit, via Epicurious
yields 1 loaf

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, plus additional for greasing pan
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 large eggs

My friends husband once left her a note in the kitchen that read: Honey, were out of bundt cake. It became a family joke, but with a beautiful underlying assumption. That bundt cake, a particularly decadent class of dessert, can be as much of a pantry staple as eggs or milk. And that listing a hand-made treat on a slip of paper can will it into your kitchen. I used to add the word "pony" to shopping lists I found lying around the kitchen when I was young. It was a similar idea.

When I said that bundt cakes are decadent, Im not kidding. While you can bake any batter in any pan (well, more or less), many bundt cakes are baked in their special hollow-centered form because they couldnt support their own weight in a standard pan. In the excellent food science baking book Bakewise, Shirley Corriher notes that many bundt cakes have particularly high amounts of fat and sugar, like the classic pound cake. These recipes create cakes with a moist and luscious crumb, but theyre often sunken, lacking a nicely domed top. The beauty of a bundt pan is that it hides this flaw. Theres no center of the cake that can sink in alarmingly, and any slight collapse will be hidden when you flip the cake to reveal its underside, nicely domed from the fancy fluted pan. Genius!

But did I say that bundt cakes were decadent? Well, yes, some are. But not this one. This cake rises nicely, showing that its fat and sugar are in healthy(-ish) proportions. It has zucchini, which we all know to be a green vegetable. And heart-healthy nuts. Why, its practically granola! With two cups of sugar. More, if you count the frosting. Did I forget to mention the frosting?

This recipe comes from the Bakers Cafe, a cozy bakery where I worked throughout high school and college. Its where I learned most of my baking chops, and where I felt the most at home. Its also where I ate delicious cakes such as this one. Sometimes multiple slices in the course of a shift (and multiple shifts in the course of a week). Those were great days.


Chocolate Zucchini Cake
adapted from The Bakers Cafe Cookbook

The zucchini melts into the cake, providing moisture and lightness, with just enough green to make you feel virtuous. If youve got a ton of zucchini, you can sneak in a bit more, with equally delicious results. The frosting is a bit runnier than a standard cream cheese frosting, so that you can pour it thickly, lusciously, over the rounded top of the cake.

Cake:
3 cups grated zucchini (I like using both the coarse and fine holes on a box grater)
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups neutral oil (like canola or soy)
1 Tbsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
1 cup chopped walnuts (more for garnish, if desired)

Frosting:
4 oz cream cheese (1/2 cup), softened at room temperature
2 Tbsp butter, softened at room temperature
squeeze of lemon or lime juice (optional)
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup + 2 Tbsp sifted confectioners sugar

Make Cake:

- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and grease and flour a 9" bundt pan.

- Set zucchini in a strainer or colander for at least half an hour to drain out the excess liquid.

- Whisk together eggs, sugar, oil and vanilla until well combined. In another bowl, sift flour with cocoa, salt and soda. Add the flour mixture to the oil mixture, folding together until just barely combined. Fold in the zucchini, breaking up any clumps, and then the nuts. Be careful not to over-mix.

- Pour batter into your prepared pan, and bake 45 minutes to an hour, or until a tester comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 20 minutes, then invert and finish cooling on a rack or plate.

- When the cake is cool, make the frosting. Using a mixer or food processor, blend together cream cheese and butter until uniform. Add the vanilla and optional citrus juice, then beat in the powdered sugar until smooth. Drizzle over the cooled cake. Garnish with additional walnuts, if desired.