marinated zucchini
another simple, delicious thing to do with all that zucchini you've got
Welcome to mamaeats, a twice-weekly newsletter (Tues. & Sat.) inspired by a simple + seasonal home life. I’m a mother of three, avid reader, gardener, and home cook who focuses on nourishing, whole food meals with a focus on plants. This newsletter is my labor of love—if you are not already, and are able to do so, please consider becoming a subscriber to support my work here, which takes time and effort. Doing so gives you access to all the archives and recipes (find the recipe index here), as well as cook-along videos which go along with most recipes. If a recurring payment is too much for you right now, but you’d still like to contribute, I’d be delighted to receive a one-off tip via my ko-fi. As always, thank you for being here, reading this newsletter, and sending me your thoughts.
Summer calls for very simple meals- the produce is fresh and usually needs little more than slicing, arranging and salting. Sliced tomatoes with minced shallot and basil, chilled sliced cantaloupe with olive oil and salt, steamed green beans from the garden, simple galettes with whatever fresh fruit is around…less time in the kitchen, more time outside.
Last week, I mentioned that one of the things coming out of our garden in spades is zucchini. Although there is lots, we happily eat them all, and their flowers, too. I check the plants daily and pick them on the on the small side for the most intensity of flavor, sweetness, and a good firm texture.
I love zucchini now, although I loathed it as a kid. My father likes vegetables well done, mushy, so we often had things boiled or sautéed within an inch of their lives, a texture preference for him. I actually don’t mind a softer vegetable here and there— for example, I don’t care much for green beans that still squeak when you bite them, and love stewed peppers— but as a child, boiled summer squash was the pits.
These days I usually sauté my zucchini simply, flavored with chile, olive oil and garlic and eat as a side or toss with pasta. Some make their way into the minestrone pot alongside the green beans. At least a few times in summer, I make Julia Child’s zucchini tian, which is wonderful and a well worn rite of mid summer for us. I always add zucchini into cold pasta salad, raw and sliced very thin on a mandolin, and of course, there are fritters, at least once a week in our house.
My other favorite way to use my zucchini is alla scapece, marinated in vinegar and garlic and mint. I first tasted this years ago via my cousin’s tiny kitchen in Rome, along with other still-favorites like pomodori al riso (worthwhile to note, an excellent summer dish to make).
True to many of Italy’s dishes, zucchine alla scapece is incredibly simple, just a few ingredients, but very flavorful and delicious. You slice your zucchini, I usually do it around noon, and let it sit on a clean tea towel for a few hours in the sun or on a counter to wick away moisture and leave you with condensed flavor.
Then, the rounds do quick dance with hot oil in a pan, after which you sharpen the edges with a douse of vinegar, herbs, and salt. The result is a perfect side or antipasto, which is also wonderful tossed into pasta salad, too, or as a simplest summer dinner alongside crusty bread, sliced tomatoes, perhaps a mound of ricotta or mozzarella. Any leftover marinated zucchini keeps well in the fridge for days afterward, and I often toss leftovers with lentils and feta to make an excellent salad.
zucchine alla scapece
notes: small zucchini are best here as they have sweeter flavor and less seeds/watery flesh. I use the variety ‘Costata Romanesco’ from my garden, which are dense and firm and sweet, but of course any small zucchini is fine. Usually the zucchini are deep fried and more vinegar is added to make this more of a preserve. I like it best with just a bit of vinegar so I can eat it as a side instead of a pickle- but if you’re looking for a more original version, there is a good one here. If you don’t want to fry at all, you can try placing them on a cookie rack, brush with oil, and broil in the oven (about 5 minutes each side) for less mess/less oil. The garlic, vinegar, salt, mint and chile amounts are to your taste, or q.b: quanto basta, however much is enough for you.
4-6 small zucchini
1/4 cup // 60 ml olive oil, plus more as needed
2 small cloves garlic, or to taste
red wine vinegar, to taste, I used about 1 tbsp
salt to taste
chile flakes to taste or a thinly sliced fresh red fresno chile
a small handful fresh mint
First, put on a good playlist and pour yourself a cold drink, it gets a bit hot cooking this dish. Apron on for spatters, sleeves up.
Crush the garlic (like through a garlic press or crushed to a paste with a knife and a sprinkle of salt), and add it to the bottom of a medium mixing/serving bowl.
Slice the zucchini into thin rounds (a mandoline makes quick, even work of this) and lay in a single layer on a clean tea towel for a few hours or so in the sun, or on the counter. This step is important to the final texture- to dry out the excess water in the zucchini, therefore making it more flavorful and not as mushy. If you are really pressed for time, you can skip it, though— the flavor will still be wonderful.
Heat 2 tbsp of olive oil in a large skillet, and when hot, add enough zucchini to make a single layer (ok if they are a bit overlapped as they will shrink as they cook). When they begin to get golden, flip them with tongs and cook the other side. This should take about 5 or less minutes.
Remove from pan, adding to the garlic bowl, mixing well. Repeat this process, mixing well each time (the heat from the just-fried zucchini will “cook” the garlic and mellow it), until all the zucchini are cooked. This took three batches for me- I used about 1.5 tbsp of oil per batch.
As soon as all of the zucchini is done cooking and in the bowl (and still very hot), sprinkle over the garlic, red wine vinegar, salt, and pepper (or chile flakes). Give it a good stir and let sit aside for at least 30 minutes or more to let the flavors meld and the zucchini cool.
Before serving, tear the mint into the bowl and stir well again, tasting and adding more mint, salt, or vinegar if needed. Serve as an antipasto or a side, preferably with crusty bread or rice to soak up the delicious juices. It is also quite good with some lentils or white beans stirred through.
I love making zucchini fries
Where I live overseas we can’t get zucchini - would you do this with eggplant?