attack of the killer zucchini

yes, i know it's been a month since we last posted, but you know what it's like. anyhoo, my friend annaluisa and her husband, jerry, have a garden and they're growing, among other things, some great zucchini. annaluisa was kind enough to share some of their crop with me. check this thing out, it's ginormous



i love the flavor of grilled zucchini, so, i dusted off the chicken crematorium, i mean, the barbeque, and grilled me up some zucchini, with a side of london broil steak. i made some caramelized onions to go on top of the zucchini and it really brought out the sweetness of the zucchini. one thing i learned about caramelized onions: i do not have the kind of patience it takes to make them. this is probably no surprise to anyone that knows me. ahem. anyway, here's the final product -



thanks, annaluisa and jerry for sharing the bounty of your harvest!

Zucchini Stir-fry

Zucchini has always fascinated me. Left raw, it leaves me cold and cooked too much, it's mush. For a long time I've made a stir-fry zucchini dish that would go from perfect to the afore mentioned mush in an instant. It has onions, tomatoes, and zucchini cut into slices and I've experimented with many different incarnations.

After eating a similar dish at the Getty Center for lunch last week I came up with what I think is a winner. The squash held up quite nicely and was still nice and firm the next day for lunch.

Recipe

Two small zucchini squash sliced in 3/4 inch slices
1/2 sweet onion sliced in wedges
1 cup sliced Crimini mushrooms*
1/4 cup pesto without cheese
1 Roma tomato, quartered seeds removed

I made a quick pesto with about a cup of fresh basil, chopped garlic, salt, pepper and enough olive oil to make a paste.
I cut the squash in circles at least 3/4 of an inch wide. This way I could get some "color" on the zucchini without cooking it to death.
I cooked the onions and mushrooms separately, removed them from the pan to saute the squash with the pesto. Then, when it was just barely cooked, I tossed back the onions and mushrooms and quartered Roma tomatoes. This only gets a very quick stir to heat the tomatoes and blend the flavors. Off the heat I tossed in some Parmesan cheese and served.