Zucchini is not only a cheap vegetable, but also an almost universal vegetable. They can be fried and stewed, steamed, baked, stuffed whole, served with pasta and put in salads, added to the dough when grated, or made from them pancakes and cutlets.
The most popular ways to cook zucchini
One of the most popular ways to prepare zucchini is to fry. Pieces of vegetable are doused in flour and fried in vegetable oil until crisp. Thus, it is good to cook very young fruits, the same as older ones, it makes sense to stew them in sour cream or tomato sauce before serving. An interesting variation on simple frying is batter cooking. You will need:
- 2 young zucchini;
- 300 grams of wheat flour;
- olive oil;
- 300 ml of light beer;
- 50 grams of grated Parmesan;
- 1 tablespoon chopped parsley.
Cut the courgettes into thin slices. Heat oil over medium heat until lightly smoky. Whisk beer and flour into a light frothy dough, add Parmesan. Dip the zucchini pieces into the batter and fry until golden brown. Serve sprinkled with parsley.
In the cuisines of different nations of the world, there are many recipes for stuffed zucchini. For example, Turks, Mexicans and even Indians have such dishes. Try stuffing Italian-style zucchini. To do this, take:
- 4 "thick" zucchini;
- 400 grams of minced veal;
- 150 grams of long grain rice;
- 1 chopped onion head;
- 2 chopped large tomatoes;
- 2 minced garlic cloves;
- 100 grams of tomato paste;
- 1 chicken egg;
- 4 tablespoons of grated Parmesan;
- 2 tablespoons of thyme leaves;
- 1 teaspoon of rosemary leaves;
- salt and pepper.
You can make zucchini with lamb, chicken, turkey, or mixed mince.
Boil rice until tender, drain and refrigerate. Cut each zucchini in half, remove the seeds. Place cut side down on a baking sheet lined with foil and bake for 20 minutes in an oven preheated to 180 ° C. Fry the minced meat, add onion and garlic to it, fry for another 5 minutes, add chopped tomatoes and tomato paste, season with salt, pepper and herbs. Stir and bring the mixture to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in rice. Stuff the zucchini "boats", sprinkle with grated cheese and bake for 15-20 minutes. Serve warm.
Pastries with zucchini
Shredded zucchini are not only suitable for making golden pancakes, they can be used to bake bread, put them in topping for open pies or pizzas, and even make cakes or muffins. For quick zucchini muffins you will need:
- 50 grams of grated zucchini;
- 1 crushed apple;
- 1 orange cut in half;
- 1 chicken egg;
- 75 grams of butter;
- 300 grams of wheat flour;
- ½ teaspoon baking powder;
- ½ teaspoon of cinnamon;
- 100 grams of powdered sugar:
- a handful of soft raisins.
Lubricate the muffin tins with oil. Add orange juice to the grated zucchini and apples, add the egg and butter, beat into a single mass. Sift flour with baking powder and cinnamon, add raisins and powdered sugar. Combine the dry and wet mixture by gently stirring with a spoon. Divide into tins and bake for 20-25 minutes in an oven preheated to 190 ° C.
Zucchini cakes go well with both lemon and chocolate icing.
Other dishes with zucchini
Zucchini is a great accompaniment to Italian pasta. If young fruits are cut into wide thin strips, they will go well with noodles. Also, zucchini is not only put in vegetable soups as one of the ingredients, but also taken as a basis for various cream and puree soups. Both cold and warm salads are prepared with zucchini, while the first vegetable is often added raw. And, of course, marinated and salted zucchini, and also make delicious jam from them.
