When In Doubt....Give them Away!

I now have seven zucchinis sitting on my kitchen table waiting to either be useful here or waiting for a new home. Unfortunately we let a couple of them get large. I will see if anyone wants them.

But what about recipes? Almost everything I know needs baked and it's just too hot to turn on the oven. I am not of that lucky breed of people that has air conditioning.

Oh well, I will begin with my all time favorite. Zucchini Parmesan. When we were growing up my Grandma Civ made eggplant parmesan. I find that I like zucchini better. Sometimes eggplant tends to get bitter. Zucchini is almost sweet.

I have made this a couple of ways. One is high in fat, the other not so much.

Zucchini Parmesan

The FAT way:

I begin by deepfrying my zucchini. I take three to four medium sized zucchini and slice them about 1/4 to 1/8 inch. Then I dip them in egg, and dredge them through seasoned breadcrumbs. I drop them in a pan of hot oil.

**Here's how I check to see if my oil is hot. I break off a small piece of bread and drop it in the oil. When the bread begins to bubble on the sides, the oil is ready.**

Make sure there is enough oil so that the zucchini doesn't stick. When it is just golden, take it out of the oil and place it on paper bags (to soak up the grease).

The NOT-SO-FAT way:

I do the egg drop and breadcrumb dredge. Instead of frying in oil, I place the zucchini on a stone or cookie sheet and bake it in the oven. When they are golden I take them out of the oven and they are ready to layer for the parmesan part.

THE PARM PART:

1 Large jar of Tomato sauce

Grated parmesan cheese

three cups of shredded mozzarella

the star: The Zucchini

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Use a 9 x 13 pan (or a similar size). Begin with a thin layer of sauce on the bottom of the pan. Just enough to coat the bottom so that nothing sticks. Put a layer of your fried zucchini (1/3 of your zucchini), close together. Cover it with sauce, sprinkle of parm and 1/3 of mozzarella. Repeat until you have three layers. You may want to place your pan on top of a cookie sheet for bubbling over messes. Cover with tin foil, but not too tight. You don't want the cheese to stick to the foil. Check after 20 minutes. After that check every 15 minutes, until it's hot and bubbly. Take the foil off and let it bake another five minutes until the cheese is golden.

This stuff is great! Everyone who eats it can't believe it's a vegetable. It looks and tastes like lasagne without all the carbs! Yum! Yum!