Why is it that zucchini’s are so prolific? Luckily in Italy, they have more zucchini ideas to use up the gut from the garden.
Yesterday’s zucchini from the garden were a mixed batch. Some just blossoms and one lovely HUGE blossom with the tiny zucchini still attached. My first fried zucchini blossom was served like that.
I had gone to Roger Verge’s cooking school in Mougin for a week with my best friend, and we ate daily at the hotel. The first appetizer we had been served was a blossom stuffed with a duxelle ( mince) of mushrooms and a whole black truffle inside. Needless to say, we had one a day for the whole week!
This version, pictured above, is breaded and fried and filled with chopped mozzarella and tiny pieces of anchovy. The anchovy is FABULOUS hit of salt when you bite into it. The breadcrumbs provide a crunchy shell to contain the melting mozzarella.
It is hard to wait, but you will avoid burning your mouth if you can wait a minute to eat.
When I was shopping at the local market I found these round zucchini, which are used for stuffing. My husband adores these, so we picked some up.
I hollow them out and fill with meatloaf mixture, simple ground beef, grated parmesan cheese and egg. Then the zucchini are slowly cooked sitting in a covered pan in a light tomato sauce. I throw the bits I cut out of the zucchini in the tomato sauce and save the sauce to serve on pasta when the zucchini are cooked.
I still have more recipes for zucchini coming up! Next year I will probably only plant two zucchini plants for our orto.
Dreaming about Zucchini Bread, Carpaccio , fried with garlic and mint, a frittata..
What do you do when you have a gut of zucchini?