Recipe by Martha Rose Schulman from the NYT
I made this dinner a week ago for our friend Annie who has a farm about 10 minutes from us. She and her husband George raise heritage pork and fortunately for me they love to trade for vegetables. On this particular evening it was too hot to eat meat, but the Zucchini Parmesan served with some roasted Eatwell Potatoes and a cucumber salad on the side was so completely satisfying, it was not missed. Even though this recipe has you make the sauce from scratch it really is not complicated and actually didn’t take long.
The Sauce
2 to 2 1/2 lb Tomatoes
1 TB Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 small Onion, chopped
2 to 4 Garlic Cloves (to taste)
Salt and Pepper
1/8 tsp Sugar (I didn’t add any sugar as our tomatoes are so sweet)
2 sprigs Basil
1 TB chopped Basil
The Zucchini
2 to 2 1/2 lbs Zucchini
Salt and Pepper
3 TB Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 to 1 tsp Red Pepper Flakes, to taste
3/4 cup fresh grated Parmesan
If you have a food mill, quarter tomatoes. If not, peel seed and chop them. To make tomato sauce, heat 1 TB olive oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium heat and add onion. Cook, stirring often, until tender, about 5 minutes. Add garlic. Cook, stirring until fragrant, 30 seconds to a minute, and ad tomatoes, salt, pepper, sugar and bass sprigs. Increase heat to medium-high. When tomatoes are bubbling briskly, stir and reduce heat to medium. Cook, stirring often, until tomatoes have cooked down and are beginning to stick to pan, 15 to 25 minutes, depending on consistency. Remove basil sprigs; taste and adjust seasoning. Heat oven to 450 F. Line sheet pans with parchment. Trim ends off zucchini and cut in half crosswise, then into lengthwise slices, about 1/4 to 1/3” thick. Season on both sides with salt and pepper and toss with 2 TB olive oil. Arrange zucchini slices on baking sheets in one layer and sprinkle with red pepper flakes. Roast for 12 minutes, until lightly browned and easily pierced with a knife. Remove from oven and reduce heat to 375 F. If using a food mill, put sauce through medium blade. If not pulse sauce in a food processor fitted with steel blade until just coarsely pureed. Stir in chopped basil. To assemble the dish, oil a 2 quart gratin with olive oil. Spread 1/4 cup tomatoes sauce over bottom of dish. Arrange a third of the zucchini in an even layer over tomato sauce. Spoon a third of remaining sauce over zucchini and sprinkle with 1/4 cup Parmesan. Repeat with 2 more layers, ending in 1/4 cup Parmesan. Drizzle on remaining TB olive oil. Bake 30 to 35 minutes, until bubbling and browned on the top and edges. Remove from heat and allow to sit for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.