Zucchini is a summer vegetable with a thin skin. Zucchini is suitable for instant cooking methods because its high water content means that it becomes mushy with prolonged heat treatments, such as stewing or boiling. If you have a lot of zucchini on hand, you can use different cooking methods each time to diversify your diet.
The same cooking methods are suitable for all summer squash varieties.
Blanching
Blanching is also called boiling. To do this, put the zucchini in ice water as soon as it reaches the desired softness in boiling water, usually after 1-3 minutes. The cold water stops the cooking process and prevents the zucchini from softening and overcooking.
Steaming
Steamed zucchini is better than blanching because vitamins do not evaporate with boiling water. You can put the zucchini in a steam basket over boiling water for 3-5 minutes, or cook it in an electric steamer at the same time.
Grill
Grilling zucchini adds a light haze flavor and mouth-watering grill marks. To grill, drizzle the zucchini slices with olive oil and cook over direct heat for 3 minutes on each side. Then shift the zucchini so that the heat is not direct until the zucchini is tender, about 10 more minutes. Try grilled zucchini slices in a sandwich, with or without meat.
Frying
Zucchini can be made quickly by frying in a little oil in a round deep skillet with a raised bottom or in a regular skillet. Sliced into thin slices of zucchini, it is enough to fry until soft for 3-6 minutes. You can add zucchini to your favorite stir-fry dish, or to a sautéed vegetable stew.
Baking
Bake the whole zucchini at 190 ° C for 30 minutes. Cutting the zucchini into wedges will cook it much faster, so you must constantly check it and remove it from the oven if it is already soft. To protect this delicate vegetable from overcooking in the oven and make it crispy, sprinkle the zucchini with crushed crackers or toasted bread crumbs for the last 10 minutes of cooking. You can also remove the seeds and fill with the meat filling before baking, and cook until the filling is done.
