But on to the story, which is why you are still reading (I presume). It’s zucchini season, too. And I don’t mean zucchinis at the grocery store, I mean my mother’s friends present her with vegetables the size of my head (and I have a big one. head, that is.). So we had two of those sitting on the counter the other day, and I thought to myself (dangerous activity, thinking), “I should make something!” I searched ‘zucchini dinner recipe’ on the interwebs and found a simple-ish something called Zucchini Galette. [recipe at the end of the post]
So I jumped in before ascertaining that we had all of the ingredients. Turns out there wasn’t any Parmesan cheese in the house. I sent my mother off on a grocery run, and commenced grating the zucchini. I grated. And grated. And GRATED. That monster took 20 minutes to pulverize! Then I let it sit and browsed the blogosphere and absently wondered when my mother would appear.
AN HOUR LATER (the nearest grocery store is 5 minutes away), she called to say that she’d picked up chicken and jo-jo’s, and she’d be home soon. I groaned on the inside. Not that I don’t like chicken and potatoes, but I’d gone to all this work…
After a delicious store-made meal, it was back to the experimental food. I whisked the eggs, mixed everything together…and realized that this recipe had curry in it. Let’s just say there was an incident in my childhood when a curry dish burned, and we all had to eat it anyway. I don’t know that I’ll ever LIKE the stuff. But I’ve eaten curry since and thought that it would be okay.
There was so much grated zucchini that I tripled the recipe. That’s enough Zucchini Galette for 9-12 people. I put it in the oven, and watched it come out beautifully. My family gathered around and commented, questioned, prodded and eventually taste-tested it. They all approved (some with a hint of surprise in their voices)! Relieved, I decided to try the finished product myself.
It. Was. Terrible.
That’s my completely biased opinion. Everyone else in the family really did like it. They swore they weren’t lying. Actually, if I’d left out curry and added fresh cilantro instead, I know I would have loved the recipe, too. As it was I made a face and told my mother that we could throw it out. Horrors! Our family does not throw out food products. End of story: she put it in a turkey and rice broth today, and it made a tasty soup, with a much milder hint of curry flavor. Moral: one person’s cooking disaster can become another person’s dinner. Oh, and I found egg on the toe my converse shoe this morning. :)
Zucchini Galette
INGREDIENTS
1 pound zucchini (about 4 medium), trimmed
2 teaspoons salt
2 large eggs
1/4 cup bread crumbs
1/2 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano, grated
1 teaspoon curry powder
(I’d say cut this at least in half, but that’s just me…)
fresh tomato sauce (optional)
olive oil
DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Meanwhile, grate the zucchini. Toss in a colander, sprinkle 1 teaspoon of the salt on top. Let the zucchini drain for about 30 minutes. Then run the zucchini under the faucet for a few seconds, to rinse off the salt. Dry the zucchini with a towel.
Whisk together the eggs in a large bowl. Add the bread crumbs, cheese, curry powder, and the rest of the salt. Dump in the dried zucchini. Stir everything until combined.
Pour the mixture into a 10 1/2 inch baking dish rubbed with oil. Pat the mixture down with the back of a spatula, until it is flat and smooth. Transfer to the oven and cook for 15 minutes. Remove, let cool for a few minutes, and then slice and serve with fresh tomato sauce poured on top, if you so choose.
