One Great . . . zucchini and eggplant dish

It was a typical Cook's Illustrated recipe, for an Italian vegetable stew called Ciambotta, flavored with a quickie pesto called pestata. Yes, it had long directions and a lengthy list of ingredients. But in my summer-packed kitchen, I thought I had them all - basil, eggplants, onions, potatoes, zucchini.

Except -- uh-oh -- no canned tomatoes, which is what was supposed to provide the liquid to turn it into a stew. And there was all that time hanging out in a hot kitchen. I wasn't crazy about that idea at the end of a long weekend.

Time to innovate. Ditch the potatoes, tomato paste and canned tomatoes. Keep the pestata, zucchini and the trick of pre-cooking the diced eggplant in the microwave to dry them out and give them a head start.

We ended up with a flavorful summer side dish, sort of a zippy and shorter version of ratatouille. It's definitely versatile. You could toss it with pasta for a vegetarian summer supper, or add some broth and turn it into a simple soup with bread on the side.

And more of those summer vegetables will find a home.

Short-Cut Ratatouille
Adapted (very adapted) from the May/June 2012 issue of Cook's Illustrated.

Pestata:
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
1 tablespoon fresh oregano leaves
6 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 to 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Vegetables:
Eggplants (I used about 4 of the long, skinny ones; aim for enough to have 2 cups of peeled, diced eggplant)
About 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
Cooking spray
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, diced
2 zucchini, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 large tomato, cored and diced, or several plum tomatoes, diced

Combine the basil, oregano, garlic and red pepper flakes in a food processor or blender. Pulse to chop it all. With motor running, drizzle in the olive oil to make a juicy sauce. Set aside.

Peel the eggplant and cut into 1/2-inch pieces. Toss with the salt. Spread a couple of coffee filters on a plate and spread the eggplant on the plate. Spritz with cooking spray and microwave for 8 minutes, stirring after 4 minutes. You want to soften the eggplant and let it start cooking.

Heat the 4 tablespoons olive oil in a large, nonstick skillet. Add the eggplant and the onion and saute, stirring often, for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the zucchini and continue cooking, stirring often, about 5 or 6 minutes, until everything is softening up. Stir in the tomato and cook another minute or two.

Stir in the pestata and saute quickly to finish, mixing everything together. Taste and add a little more salt if needed.

Makes about 4 servings.

One Great . . . way to use zucchini

The calls and questions are coming in: What to do with all the zucchini. What with that rainy spring and all, zucchini seem to be growing to baseball-bat proportions overnight.

So a posting by food writer Regina Schrambling on www.epicurious.com's Epi Log quickly caught my attention Tuesday afternoon: A Turkish-inspired zucchini spread. Just the thing to serve with pita bread and a salad for a simple summer supper, or maybe dip up with crostini or pita chips. I showed it to my zucchini-growing co-worker and we both agreed it needed to be tried.

Luckily, I had everything but fresh dill, which was optional anyway. I even had Aleppo pepper (my spice cabinets overfloweth), but that's really pretty optional too. Otherwise, you just need Greek yogurt, a little mayo, walnuts and garlic. And zucchini. But that part shouldn't be hard.

Turkish Zucchini Spread

Adapted from food writer Regina Schrambling on www.epicurious.com

1 pound zucchini
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 cup (or less) plain Greek yogurt
3 cloves minced garlic
3/4 cup ground walnuts (see note)
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
A pinch of sea salt
About 3 tablespoons chopped fresh dillweed (optional)
1/2 teaspoon ground Aleppo pepper or coarsely ground black pepper

Grate the zucchini on the large holes of a box grater. (Schrambling suggested peeling a few strips off the zucchini, but I skipped that. Zucchini skin is so thin, there's no reason to peel it.) Heat about 2 tablespoons oil in a skillet over medium-high. Saute the zucchini for several minutes. Remove from heat and cool.

Place the zucchini in a bowl and mix with the yogurt, mayonnaise, garlic and ground walnuts. Season to taste with salt. To serve, spread it on a plate or small platter and sprinkle with fresh dillweed. Mix the pepper and 1 tablespoon olive oil, then drizzle over the top. Serve at room temperature.

NOTE: I ground the walnuts and the garlic together in a mortar and pestle, which worked great. It left the walnuts a little chunky, adding more texture. Or you could mince the garlic and pulse the walnuts in a food processor. One cup walnuts should yield about 3/4 cup ground walnuts.

Too much zucchini? Keep your cool

File this under "the most interesting recipe I saw before 9 a.m. today":

On Seriouseats.com, Max Falkowitz has a post on a novel way to take your revenge on all those zucchini: Zucchini Bread Ice Cream.

"When you've reached the point of zucchinipocalypse where even baking won't save you from the overrun, there's one last dramatic course of action to take. I'm talking about ice cream. Specifically, zucchini bread ice cream. It's a novelty to bust you out of zucchini malaise, and it's so good you may finally have the weapon you need to repel the invasion of the summer squash."


Falkowitz does not merely make zucchini bread and crumble it into ice cream. His method involves browning grated zucchini in butter, pureeing it with cream and spices and adding a glug of beer - yes, beer - to add that essential baked breadiness.

Sounds to me like the perfect thing to scoop on top of that other great zucchini-hider, the Mock Apple Pie.

Here's a link. And if you make it, please let me know if this idea is a keeper.