Thai style zucchini
It’s customary to peel the squash before cooking it, but Evgeny Mikhailov, head of the Drinks@Dinners restaurant, believes zucchini harvested from the garden should be thoroughly washed before cooking. The chef mainly cooks from zucchini in his kitchen, but according to him, the same dishes can be made from zucchini. He suggested a simple but original way of cooking zucchini Thai style.
“Chop the zucchini into bite-size pieces, grill them, season the appetizer with ready-made Thai chili sauce to add sweetness, and sprinkle with fresh coriander,” she advises.
Mikhailov also has a more complex recipe – smoked fish and zucchini with ponzu sauce. For cooking, you will need smoked salmon or trout, zucchini, cucumber, honey, Borodino bread, olive oil, ponzu sauce, sour cream, salt, pepper and fresh mint.
Cut the zucchini into thin slices and marinate in ponzu sauce for 10 minutes. Peel the cucumber, cut into small cubes and marinate with honey and finely chopped mint. Stir, put on a plate, put chopped smoked fish on top. Remove the zucchini from the pumice and pat dry with a paper towel to remove excess sauce and place over the fish. Cut the Borodino bread into thin slices, add salt, pepper, a little olive oil and dry in the oven. Garnish the dish with sour cream and Borodino bread chips.
pumpkin dessert
Alexey Onegin, chef, author of a culinary blog Arborio.ru believes pumpkins have very little flavor of their own because they contain so much water.
“If you don’t work on it, the food will taste poor and uninteresting. Therefore, the main advice when cooking zucchini is to figure out how to increase its flavor and be generous. If these are spices, color the zucchini as brightly as possible! If it’s a sauce, it will be plentiful and strong and rich,” she advises.
Onegin shared an unusual method of cooking zucchini called “confit”.
This is a French cooking technique with a large amount of fat, thanks to which the dish turns out to be very rich and satisfying – this, according to the chef, is more advantageous in the case of zucchini than a disadvantage.
“Cut the young zucchini or zucchini into slices and salt them. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan, add the peeled garlic cloves, thyme sprigs and some dried cayenne pepper. Add the chopped zucchini and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the zucchini is completely soft and absorbs the flavor of the oil and spices. It can then be eaten hot or cold, in salads and bruschetta, added to pizza, or used as a pasta sauce with lemon juice and grated cheese.”
Chrtma
The brand chef of Gayane’s restaurant, Gayane Breiova, shared a traditional recipe for a young zucchini dish popular with housewives in Armenia. To prepare Chrtma, you will need zucchini, onions, dill, ghee and salt.
“Saute the finely chopped onions in oil until soft, then add the sliced zucchini and bring to a boil. Sprinkle finely chopped dill on top before serving.”
hummus from zucchini
The chef of the Tyumen restaurant, Zarnizza Arkady Kuzevanov, told how to make hummus from zucchini. For cooking, you will need zucchini, green peas, peanuts, sesame seeds, garlic, lemon, vegetable oil, salt.
“I recommend using small zucchini, as the flesh of large zucchini is very thick and the flavor is less pronounced,” he advises.
Cut the zucchini in half and remove the seeds. Boil the green peas and remove the skins. Per kilogram of zucchini should be about 600 g of peas.
Take 100 g of peanuts, 100 g of sesame seeds and a head of garlic. Bake a head of garlic, then peel it off and fry it with sesame and peanuts. Add about 300 ml of vegetable oil and mix with a blender. Boil the zucchini in salted water, add the peas and bring to a boil, then drain in a colander and cover with ice. If necessary, pierce everything in a blender, adding the water in which the zucchini was blanched. Add some sesame oil and water from a whole lemon. Blend everything until smooth, salt and pepper. Garnish with fresh mint leaves when serving.
pickled zucchini
Restaurant chef LES Andrei Kolodyazhny suggested preserving young zucchini by analogy with cucumbers.
“This is a great idea for the winter for those who have a cottage, and there is an unexpectedly big harvest issue every year. “Canned zucchini is really delicious, and it’s a great alternative for those who are bored with canned cucumbers and tomatoes.”
To prepare a liter jar, you will need pumpkin, salt, sugar, cherry and currant leaves, dill inflorescences, mustard seeds, black pepper, garlic, 9% vinegar and water.
Wash zucchini, peel and cut into cubes. Arrange in sterilized jars on an umbrella of dill, two leaves of cherries and currants. Place the zucchini in pre-sterilized jars and cover with boiling water. Cover the jars with lids and leave for 15 minutes. Then pour the water into a saucepan, add 2 tbsp. I. salt and sugar and boil for 2-3 minutes. Put 5 black peppercorns, ½ teaspoon in a jar of zucchini. mustard seeds, 2 cloves of garlic and 1 tsp. vinegar. Fill the zucchini with boiling marinade so that it is just a clump and there is no air left. Collect the jars with sterilized lids and turn them upside down. Wrap it in a warm towel and let it cool. Store in a cool, dry place.
To preserve the zucchini crop, Kolodyazhny recommends freezing them for the winter.
For freezing, he recommends choosing young zucchini, no longer than 20 cm. Zucchini should be properly washed, cut into circles and immersed in boiling water for three minutes. Immediately after that, they need to be cooled in ice water for the same amount of time. Then drain the water and pat the zucchini dry with a paper towel. When the vegetables are a little dry, put them in a freezer-safe container, leave some space and place in the freezer.
The chef of the restaurant “Daily Bread” Yevgeny Vasilenko suggested preparing a salad of steak and young zucchini. For cooking, you will need lettuce, zucchini, potatoes, beans, tomatoes, roast beef, pickled daikon and sunflower oil. To prepare the sauce, egg yolk, Dijon mustard, vegetable oil, vinegar, salt and pepper.
The chef recommends starting with the roast beef. Beef tenderloin should be marinated in a mixture of salt, pepper, garlic and thyme for three hours, then fried on all sides in a pan and brought to medium frying in the oven at 180 degrees – about 10-15 minutes . To prepare the sauce, whisk the egg yolks with vinegar and spices, then pour vegetable oil and Dijon mustard in a thin stream. The sauce should have the consistency of liquid sour cream. Chop the lettuce leaves coarsely and put them at the bottom of a plate. Fry half the potatoes until golden brown and salt them. Cut the zucchini into slices and fry on the grill. Add the halved cherry tomatoes and season with the sauce.
Zucchini and shrimp risotto
Matteo’s chef, Matteo Lai, recommends trying a classic zucchini and seafood pairing with shrimp and zucchini risotto. Cooking requires shrimp, zucchini, butter, arborio rice, vegetable broth, onion, parmesan cheese, dry white wine, thyme, parsley, olive oil, salt and pepper.
Chop the green parts of the zucchini into small cubes, fry in salt, pepper and olive oil for 3 minutes. Then add vegetable juice and basil and grind with a blender. Cut the white part of the zucchini into cubes. Then, fry the finely chopped onions in olive oil in a separate pan, add the rice and fry for another 3-4 minutes. Pour in the dry white wine and mix well. When the wine has evaporated, add the water gradually. Add the mashed potatoes and chopped zucchini to the rice. Add the shrimp at the end of cooking. Remove the risotto from the heat, add butter, parmesan and some thyme.
Korean pumpkin and zucchini jam
Sergey Lazarev, the chef of the Zaryadye restaurant, suggested going further and making jam from zucchini.
“Pumpkin jam is a pretty special story, but it tastes very interesting. If the harvest is large, why not try it,” she says..
For cooking, you will need young zucchini, apples, pears, citrus zest, sugar.
Cut the zucchini into either small cubes or small strips. Cut apples and pears in the same way and grate lemon or orange zest. Put all the ingredients in a saucepan, sprinkle with sugar at the rate of 600 g of sugar per 1 kg of vegetables and fruits. According to the chef, when the zucchini is cooked, it will definitely give water, but if necessary, you can add 100 ml of water. Bring to a boil and cook for 15 minutes.
“If it seems like the jam isn’t sour enough, you can add some lemon juice. And at the end of cooking, throw a few sprigs of thyme and a leaf of basil. You’ll get a jam that goes well with sweet pancakes and savory cheese bruschetta,” the chef advised.
Another interesting recipe from Lazarev is Korean zucchini.
“A great appetizer that Korean carrot lovers will adore. It is prepared very quickly – in half an hour, and you can serve it to the table, ”says.
For cooking, you will need young zucchini, onions, carrots, garlic, sugar, salt, ground coriander, hot ground pepper, vegetable oil, vinegar, soy sauce, sesame.
Zucchini, carrots and onions are cut into thin strips or cut on a grater. Mix with spices, add a little vegetable oil and let it brew for 30 minutes. Sprinkle sesame seeds while serving.