This time of year, everyone has zucchini growing like mad in their gardens and are eating it daily or sneaking squash onto neighborhood porches in the middle of the night. Sunday, Mary gave us this:
What's a girl to do?
Even though the temperatures were again into the high 90's (hello... Mother Nature... we live in Oregon...) I decided to fire-up the oven to bake a yummy zucchini gratin. My zucchini gratin only has six ingredients and goes together in just a few minutes. (Plus, it is only 140 calories per serving.)
1 cup grated fresh parmesan cheese 1 Tablespoon all-purpose flour ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (or to taste) 4 cups grated fresh zucchini squash (details below) ¼ cup coarse-chop fresh basil leaves ¼ cup seasoned breadcrumbs (preferably home-made)
Heat oven to 375°. Place the grated cheese, flour and black pepper in a medium bowl and toss to coat the cheese with the flour. Grate the zucchini over a clean kitchen towel. When you have about four cups, spread the grated squash evenly over the towel, roll-up and wring the towel over the kitchen sink to extract as much liquid as possible from the zucchini.
Add the dry zucchini to the bowl, toss-in the chopped basil and stir to mix. Spread the mixture into an oiled 8x8-inch shallow baking dish. Sprinkle the breadcrumbs over the zucchini mixture and bake at 375° for 20-25 minutes - until the gratin is browned and bubbly throughout. Let rest five minutes and serve.
Serves 4 as a side dish.
Zucchini Gratin
The After-Party
The flowers from the Farmer's Market are still looking good... amazing in this heat
We also enjoyed chicken sausages from New Season's Market in Beaverton, Oregon
And, of course, a yummy salad
Try the gratin recipe and let me know what you think. Until my next update, I remain, your zucchini-eating correspondent.