As I mentioned the other day, the season of free garden produce has arrived. One of the most prolific vegetables anywhere is the Zucchini-also known as Courgette in England/Australia and beyond. Last year I successfully made sweet pickles and relish from Zucchini, along with the typical Zucchini bread.
So far this year I’ve received 4 mammoth Zucchini. I made muffins, and have served it sauteed twice (Princess LOVES it). I am half way through making a batch of the sweet pickles (they are marinating in the downstairs fridge-all I have to do is bring up to temp and then can them).
Still, I had 2 left. So I decided to try a few new things. Last fall I finally, after about 4 years of looking, found a dehydrator for sale at the thrift shop. A brand new Ronco from the 1980′s-never even taken out of the box. So I decided to dry some Zucchini. I halved the squashes and then scooped out the seeds with an icecream scoop-into the compost with that. Then I cut each half into 3 long pieces and used my 4mm food processor blade to slice them up. Then I proceeded to fill each of the 6 trays as solidly as possible with the Zucchini. Supposedly you can eat these as a snack, throw them directly into soups and stews (the broth rehydrates) or soak them in water and use in regular recipes.
Yesterday I also made a very successful experiment for dinner-Zucchini Soup! I simply threw the rest of the zucchini cut small (about 3 cups) into my pot with about 1 cup of water, 2 bullion cubes, 2 cloves of garlic and a medium onion. I simmered all that until it was very soft then threw it in my blender in two batches to totally pulverize it. Lastly I added a can of evaporated milk (you could use cream if you had it on hand-I never do). Talk about yummy! I think that is my new favorite way to eat Zucchini!
More on using up Zucchini:
Preserving the Harvest, Zucchini
What to do with too much Zucchini (make sure to check out the comments for more ideas!)
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Zucchini is by far my favorite veggie, especially in eggs. My plant just died, but I’m hoping my mom’s does well so she’ll share
Autum-usually you can find SOMEONE glad to get rid of a few
But they do seem to be all or nothing plants. You are overwhelmed, or you get nothing.
You are so right about zucchini; almost every gardener I know ends up begging people to take some off their hands.
My favorite use for it by far is zucchini bread. I use it occasionally in stir-fry or spaghetti sauce. Other than that, I’ve never bothered with zucchini. That soup sounds delish, though. I am going to try it this weekend. Thanks for the tip!
I have been looking around for diffrent stuff to do with Zucchini! I have read dehydrated Zucchini is yummy. You will have to let us know.
I want a deydrator so bad……..
Random P-My problem is I can eat a whole loaf of Z.bread myself-and I don’t need the sugar and fat
Carolyn-It came out pretty good, but I’m not sure if it is dry enough-that makes me nervous about spoilage. I may seal it in one of my canning jars with the foodsaver just to be sure. I’ve heard from a friend that the ronco dehydrator I have is a pretty crappy one. If I find I use it alot it may be worth asking for a good one for Christmas from Yankee Bill
if you can get curry powder, the yellow kind used in chinese cooking, i mean, then try adding a little of that to your zuchinnis as they cook.. gives a lovely oomph to it. How much of course depends on a) the strength of your particular powder and b) how strong you like it!
keth
xx
oohhh, curry powder sounds good! I’ll have to try that.