How to Use a Bunch of Zucchini

Zucchini lasagna for the end of summer

I collect from a local farm share, which is something I recommend to anyone looking to feel moderately more anxiety about the volume of vegetables in their fridge. It’s also very picturesque and makes me feel like a wholesome housewife to pick it up and use it.

If you garden or have friends that do, you’re aware that the summer months bring with them a sort of zucchini tsunami. You’ll be drowning in green and yellow gourds by the ton, finding that zucchini cake contains a horrifying volume of oil, and scrambling to use these for something other than throwing away in abject defeat.

I have a few recipes for the very end of summer and any straggler zucchini you may have lying around from a bountiful August, or perhaps stowed in your freezer from late July.

First up is this one, tested in my personal kitchen and strongly approved:

From New York Times Cooking

This one is delicious, light, fresh, creamy, and surprisingly easy to make. If you want to make this one higher in protein or fiber (or you’re like me and you don’t generally have and are too lazy to buy ricotta), you can make a few substitutions, including chickpea or lentil pasta instead of standard, or using greek yogurt, blended cottage cheese, or both in place of the ricotta. I am an indefatigable substituter of all kinds of dairy in cooking, especially pasta dishes, and both sour cream and craime freche - in smaller amounts than the recipe’s ricotta volume, maybe 50% - would be substitutions I’d make at home if I had them around. These are different flavor options rather than higher protein or fiber ones.

All of these will change the dish to some extent - chickpea and lentil pasta are both grainier with slightly different flavor than traditional egg and flour pastas, and greek yogurt, blended cottage cheese, or both have a bit less of the smooth creaminess of ricotta. They don’t change the dish in a way that I personally care about, and I offer it to you if you also have more interest in macro balance with a mostly good meal, or again, if you care less about the exact dairy profile of the dish than you do about buying ricotta.

My next zucchini recipe suggestion began with this instagram recipe:

collegenutritionist

A post shared by @collegenutritionist

At this point in my life, I confess that a high percentage of the recipes I consume come from instagram (including that NYT one, btw). The above recipe intrigued me because it was dead easy, and had a passing resemblance to lasagna, and I started doing my substitutions.

Eurydice’s Zucchini Lasagna

• 3-8 medium zucchini, chopped in rough segments [realistically, as many zucchini as will fit when chopped and placed in whatever baking dish you’re using here]

• 1 onion, diced, divided in half

• 3-14 cloves of garlic, minced

• 2 tsp dry oregano/2 T chopped fresh oregano, divided in half [this one actually is better with fresh herbs but it’s not a good reason to throw your back out trying to buy fresh oregano]

• 1 T dry basil/handful chopped fresh basil, divided in half [if you’re going to go fresh for only one herb in this recipe basil is def your girl]

• 2 tsp dry rosemary/2 T chopped fresh rosemary, divided in half

• 1-2 T (10-30g) olive oil [for drizzling]

• 1 lb/450 g ground meat of choice [I prefer extra lean ground beef but you could probably do pork, turkey, or chicken without too much suffering]

• 6 oz/170 g can tomato paste [some people prefer not to use this much tomato paste in any recipe, but I like the intensity of the flavor and I’m too lazy to preserve a quarter cup of tomato paste while actively cooking. Anyway, if this is an intense flavor for you, you can use 2T/30 g of tomato paste instead]

• [Optional] ~1/2 C/60 g water or 1 15 oz can of tomato sauce

• 1/2 c. (120 g) cottage cheese [I think this tastes fine with 2% cottage cheese, but it’s probably better with full fat or swapping out both this and the greek yogurt for ricotta]

• 1/2 c. (120 g) greek yogurt [I also use nonfat for this and I also think it’s fine but let your heart make these decisions]

• 1-2 eggs [part of why my lowfat version tastes fine is that I use more egg - 2 of them - and it sets up in the oven a bit more firmly than it would in a traditional lasagna; dealer’s choice]

• 2-3 cups grated mozzarella

• Grated parmesan for garnish [fresh grated will add quite a zhush]

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F/205 degrees C. Chop your zucchini and place in a large, shallow baking dish [I use a 9x13]. Chop onion, garlic, and herbs if relevant, and add them to the baking dish with the zucchini. Generously salt and pepper the dish. Spray or drizzle a few tablespoons of olive oil on the vegetables and aromatics, and toss to coat.

2. Bake zucchini, aromatics, and herbs at 400F/204C for 25 minutes.

3. To a medium skillet over medium-high heat, add a drizzle of olive oil and wait until it shimmers when you tilt the pan. Add the remaining garlic and onion, season with salt and pepper, then stir until the onion becomes translucent and aromatics are fragrant.

4. Add ground meat, season with salt and pepper, and cook until the meat is well browned and cooked through.

5. Add tomato paste to cooked ground meat and stir until the meat is coated and the tomato paste darkens slightly and becomes more fragrant. I recommend pouring a small amount of water into the skillet to deglaze at this point. If you want your lasagna really sauce-heavy, you could add more water here and mix until it’s combined, or a full can of tomato sauce. Set aside.

6. Blend the egg(s), cottage cheese, greek yogurt, and remaining herbs. Add salt and pepper and a small amount of milk, half and half, or cream if the blender isn’t blending well. Refrigerate until zucchini is done.

7. Once the 25 minute bake time ends, remove the zucchini from the oven. Add the ground meat and tomato mixture in an even layer on top, then add all of the egg/cottage cheese mixture and smooth into an even layer. Cover evenly with the mozzarella and some parmesan, if desired, then return to the oven for at least 10 minutes. I recommend extending your bake time for as long as it takes to see the classic golden brown crust on the cheese.

8. Serve with a little extra smattering of parmesan and enjoy!