Cookery: A Useful Accomplishment...Or How to Eat A Giant Zucchini

" ' Lounging and larking don't pay,' observed Jo, shaking her head. 

 'I'm tired  of it and mean to go to work at something right off.' 

 'Suppose you learn plain cooking; that's a useful accomplishment, 

which no [one] should be without,' said Mrs. March."

--Louisa Mae Alcott, Little Women

     

 I was practicing the art of cookery today and wanted to share the results of making use of just one of those super~sized zucchini I had  mentioned HERE (bought from the farm stand, 3 for $1). 

 

My goal was to make small pizzas...using the zucchini as the crust. However, that idea was nearly squelched after seeding the centers--due to the gaping hole in the center of the zucchini rounds! 

I got around this by slicing very thin pieces from the narrow part of the zucchini and using it to cover the gap...you'll notice I also did a similar trick with a Roma tomato.  They both turned out tasty!

Here is a photo of the miniature zucchini pizzas as I put them into the oven.  I'm not sure if you can tell, but they are topped with marinara, mozzarella, diced tomatoes and (a few) pepperoni.  I baked them for 35 minutes in a preheated 400 degree oven and they were delicious!  I don't have a picture of the finished product as both my phone and my camera battery died on me!  Note:  While we thought they were quite good, I'm not sure if children would be too excited about these as the zucchini becomes soft when cooked and must be eaten with a fork thereby losing the coveted status of finger~food...but Rosie and I liked them a lot!

While the oven was still hot, I decided to use the remains of my low~carb feast (primarily the zucchini)  to make oven-baked zucchini fries!

This was surprisingly easy to do!  I cut up the remaining, seeded, zucchini into same~sized pieces (see picture above) and set them aside while I put about a cup of bread crumbs, a teaspoon of garlic salt and about two tablespoons of grated Parmesan cheese into a zip lock bag and shook them up.  Next I dipped the pieces in an egg wash (one egg with a bit of water, well beaten) and them dropped them in the bag with the seasoned bread crumbs until they were covered.  I placed them all on a parchment-paper lined cookie sheet where they were baked in the preheated 400 degree oven for about 30 minutes. 

 I served them forth using leftover marinara from the pizzas as a dipping sauce!

I still have two huge zucchinis to eat up...hmmm...perhaps I'll take the easy way out and grate and freeze them for recipes during the winter...or am open to suggestions!

Sending love and good thoughts to all, as always.
 Warmly,
Tracey and Family

x0x