We are still trying to use up all the zucchini our garden has been giving us this summer. It's a perennial problem, isn't it? Yesterday I gave four not-too-enormous courgettes to our neighbors M and B. We've given some to two other neighbors as well. Yesterday Walt made pizzas with chunks of grilled turkey breast, bell peppers, tomato sauce, and... wait for it... grilled zucchini. It was delicious.
Yesterday morning, I took two gigantic zucchinis, cut them in half lengthwise, and roasted them on a tray a fairly hot oven, cut side down, for nearly an hour. I also roasted four fat garlic cloves in the oven with them. The zucchini skins got slightly charred, and the flesh browned a little, giving everything good flavor. These could have been cooked on the barbecue grill, but I did them in the oven.
When the zukes and cooled enough so that I could handle them, I scooped out most of the big seeds, which I thought would be too tough to puree. Then I scooped out all the zuke flesh and set it in a strainer to drain away some of its liquid. I ended up with two cups of flesh and about a cup of liquid, which I'll use in some other dish.
The zucchini skins were too tough to use. (The tender skins of smaller zukes could probably be good just pureed with the flesh.)
At that point, Walt came in from working in the garden and asked me what I was making. Zucchini dip, I told him. Will it be like hummus? Ooh, I said, putting some chickpeas in it is a great idea. We had a small can of chickpeas in the pantry.
I blitzed the zucchini flesh in tall glass pitcher using a stick blender, adding a big handful of fresh mint and fresh parsley leaves to the mix. Then I pureed the drained chickpeas the same way. I stirred the two purees together — or three, really, because the oven-roasted garlic cloves (peeled) went in as well — in a bowl and seasoned the mixture with salt, pepper, cayenne, cumin, and other spices.
We'll eat the dip with tortilla chips, crackers, or bread. Or we'll find other ways to enjoy it. The mix of chickpea and zucchini puree has good flavor and a nice thick texture. We might stir in some olive oil at some point, or add more spices, depending on what we're having the dip with.
Looks good.
ReplyDeleteHave you had zoodles? I don't have the gadget but just slice zucchini into fettucini-like noodles. If you salt them and let them sweat, they are almost like cooked. In fact, I do a salad with zoodles, chickpeas and parlsey.
ReplyDeleteYour zucchini-hummus looks yummy, too.
I have made "zoodles" but not this year. You can make thin, long slices of zucchini using a vegetable peeler (un économe. The idea of just salting and maybe rinsing them and eating them raw is appealing.
Deletevery creative....
ReplyDeleteYou are such an inspiration with your recipe development, always showing us such yummy looking things! I admire how you use every bit of something! Even down to the liquid drained from the zucchini!I will be eager to know where that lands, maybe in a soup?
ReplyDeleteI hope the zucchini liquid will go into a soup (it's not really soup weather though) or a sauce. The danger with saving these things is that they'll go into the freezer and sink to the bottom, becoming just one more UFO (Unidentified Frozen Object).
DeleteGreat idea for hummus. Handmade zoodles sound good too.
ReplyDeleteBecause you posted this and it looks so good, and because I have zucchini but I am lazy .. I am going to grill mine, sliced longways and make sandwiches with zucchini and mozzarella .. that is about all I am up to these days .. I have a severe case of
ReplyDeleteSummer Laziness ~
That sounds good, you know.
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