Zucchini Towers

A little while ago, Scott brought home a lovely zucchini from one of his co-workers. As luck would have it, a day or so later we got to pick some basil in a friend's garden. When we got home, I looked at the zucchini, looked at the basil, and decided that they should be eaten together.

I've been using a variation of the baking method below for a while now, mostly to cook unbreaded eggplant for badrijani nigozi, an eggplant and walnut roll that they make in the Georgia (the country, not the state). I really like the method for a variety of reasons, but mostly because you don't have to use a ton of oil or stand in front of a frying pan for forever. There is something about the idea of standing in front of a pan of hot oil that makes me want to run out of the kitchen. Maybe it isn't that surprising though that I would prefer to bake something instead of fry it.

 

I think you'll really like this recipe. It looks fancy, but is actually pretty easy to assemble, and it tastes really good, especially when the cheese is warmed through from the heat of the zucchini. Yum. 

Notes:
This may look like a lot of steps, but it is really quite easy in the end if you stay organized. You can make this with one large zucchini like I did, or with several small zucchinis. If your zucchinis are very tiny, consider cutting them length-wise instead of into rounds. If you don't have small tomatoes, you can use large tomatoes instead. If you don't like goat cheese, you can substitute feta or mozzarella, etc. Before I pull the hot pans out of the oven, I measure out the three tablespoons of oil into two ramekins so that I won't have to fumble with a measuring spoon, a bottle of oil, and a hot pan at the same time. For the parmesan cheese, I take a 2 ounce piece of cheese and grate it finely with my Microplane grater. Depending on how many zucchini slices you end up with, you may need more or less of the egg and panko mixtures, so keep that in mind when you're pulling together the ingredients. I make the tomato garnish while the zucchini is baking.

Adapted from The New Best Recipe: All-New Edition

Zucchini Base Ingredients:
2 pounds of zucchini
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
1½ teaspoons black pepper, divided use
2 ounces finely grated parmesan
1½ cups panko bread crumbs
4 eggs
6-9 tablespoons vegetable oil

Tomato Garnish  Ingredients:
1 pint small tomatoes
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
handful of basil leaves, minced
salt and pepper to taste

Other Ingredients:
goat cheese (or feta or mozzarella)
Additional slivered basil leaves

Serves 4-6 people

Preheat and Prepare:
Place the oven racks at the upper and lower thirds of the oven. Place a rimmed baking sheet (i.e., a jelly roll pan) on each rack and preheat the oven to 425°F. While the oven and the pans preheat, prepare the zucchini. Slice the zucchini into ¼-inch rounds. Place the salt, ½ teaspoon of black pepper, and flour in a gallon-sized plastic bag. In a pie dish, toss together the panko, remaining 1 teaspoon of black pepper, and parmesan cheese. Beat the eggs in a medium-sized bowl, then transfer them to a separate pie pan. Form an assembly line of the zucchini slices, flour mixture (in the plastic bag), well-beaten eggs, panko mixture, and several racks or plates to rest the breaded zucchini on. Place 3-4 zucchini slices in the bag with the flour, seal the bag, and then shake until the slices are evenly covered. Remove one of the slices from the bag, tap off any excess flour, and then place the slice in the egg mixture, flipping it over so both sides are covered. Next, place the slice in the panko mixture, flipping it over so both sides are evenly covered. Tap off any excess panko mixture, and place the fully breaded slice on the rack or plates. Repeat with the remaining slices until they are all breaded. If you run out of one of the ingredients, just mix up a little bit more of it. 

Bake:
Once the pans are preheated and the zucchini slices are breaded, take out two small bowls and measure out 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil into each bowl. Carefully remove one of the hot pans from the oven and pour the three tablespoons of oil onto the pan, rotating the pan around so the oil is evenly distributed. The pan may flex as the oil is added since the oil is cooler than the pan is. Carefully and quickly place the breaded zucchini slices in the pan in a single layer. It is ok if they touch a little, but the slices should not overlap. The oil may sizzle when you place the zucchini in the pan, so watch for splattering. Place the first pan back in the oven and repeat with the second pan. If you have additional breaded slices left over, set them aside until the first batch is finished.

The breaded zucchini will bake for about 30 minutes total. During this time, you can make the tomato garnish. For the baking, first, set a timer for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes have passed, rotate the pans from front to back and high to low. Set the timer for another 10 minutes. After the second 10 minutes have passed (total baking time is now 20 minutes), use a metal spatula to flip the slices over. Return the flipped slices to the oven and bake for an additional 10 minutes, or until the slices are golden brown and crispy (total baking time ~30 minutes). Remove the pans from the oven, and immediately transfer the slices to a baking rack so they don't continue to cook (and possibly burn) in the hot rimmed baking sheet. You can use a paper towel to blot away any excess oil. Repeat with any remaining slices that didn't get baked the first time, using an additional three tablespoons of oil for the pan. 

Make the Tomato Garnish:
While the zucchini bakes, put together the tomato garnish. Cut the small tomatoes into eighths, and place the tomato pieces in a medium-sized bowl. Place the tablespoon of olive oil in a small saucepan. Once the oil is hot, add the garlic and sauté until the garlic just begins to brown and is fragrant. Pour the garlic, along with the oil, into the bowl with the tomatoes, and add the minced basil. Toss everything together, adding salt and pepper to taste.

Assemble:
While the zucchini slices are still hot, place one-to-two slices on a plate for each person. Top each slice with some goat cheese, and then some of the tomato garnish. Top with another slice of zucchini, some cheese, and then tomato. Add some additional slivered basil on top, if desired. Refrigerate any leftovers unassembled. Reheat the zucchini slices in a toaster oven or skillet so they stay crispy and then assemble the towers. 

Pin It