Grandma's Stewed Zucchini

My sister has talked about making my Grandma's Stewed Zucchini for a few years now.  I think it was the word "stewed" that turned me off.  Boy was I wrong!  How could I believe that any recipe from my Italian grandmother could NOT be good?  And this, my friends, is good!

I called my grandmother up and asked her what she does with zucchini.  "You don't want to make zucchini bread," she says, "It's way too much work.  Make some Stewed Zucchini."

When I let her give me the recipe and it started with bacon, I figured it went well this week.  Saute up bacon and onion in a pot.

 While the bacon is crisping, slice up zucchini.  "Don't cut it in chunks," Grandma said, "you want thin slices."  I used up the zucchini and squash we got in our pick up last week.  I wish I hadn't chopped the big old pieces in half!  Then add just enough water to cover the zucchini and simmer it until the zucchini is tender and the water is gone.

I didn't get a picture of the water gone.  I used WAY too much water and then I didn't have enough tomato sauce so I put in some tomato paste with the broth that was left in the pot.  Once the water is gone, add 3 cans of tomato sauce.  Season with parsley and a bay leaf as well as salt and pepper.

Once the pot returns to a simmer, beat up 2 eggs, temper (add a little bit of the hot mixture with the eggs at a time, whisking constantly until you have about 1/2 cup of liquid + egg) and add the eggs to the stewed zucchini.  Let warm again.  Then you are ready to eat!

Frank and I had our Stewed Zucchini last night with meatballs (on the side - we didn't have time to let them cook in the sauce).  I just ate it plain for lunch yesterday!

Kale Potato Short Ribs & Zucchini Squash Spaghetti

Kale, Potato Short Ribs

One bunch Kale }
5-6 new potatoes }  From our Fiat Farms CSA
2 small onions   }
1 qt broth, garlic, cumin, aji panca (peruvian red pepper paste), salt, pepper

Cooked in crock pot for 10 hrs on low.

 

Zucchini Squash Spaghetti

Original recipe found here

 

How we did it...

 

We started by grating two yellow squash and our one zucchini.  At the same time we were boiling and pot of water and cooking a 13oz package of whole wheat spaghetti.

 

Next we prepped the 2tbs lime juice, zest of one lime chopped, 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, and 1/2 cup thinly sliced basil.

 

 

Heat 2 tbs oil in a large skillet and sautee 2 minced cloves of garlic until fregrant(~30sec).  Add zucchini and squash until wilted (~1min), stir in lime juice for 1 min.  Lastly, take everything off the heat, mix together, and serve with a little extra parmesan and olive oil sprinkled on top.

 

 



13oz whole wheat spaghetti
2 tbs olive oil
2 cloves garlic minced
1-2 zucchini juilenned
1-2 yellow squash juilenned
salt and pepper to taste
2 tbs fresh lime juice
1 tbs lime zest chopped
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1/2 cup sliced basil

1) boil water and cook paste until al dente
2) Heat oil in large skillet and sautee garlic until fregrant (30sec).  Add zucchini and squash until wilted (1min).  Pour in lime juice and cook 1 min longer.  Season with salt and pepper.  Take off heat.
3) Stir all ingredients together.  Top with parmesan and olive oil.

Swiss Chard Pie

This is a family recipe from Peru and my husband just couldn't wait to try it out.  Even our 14m old liked it.

	Crust Make a crown with the flour and pour oil and butter in the middle.  Add 1tbs water at a time and knead until a soft dough forms.  Set aside while making pie filling.   1 cup flour (we used ½ all purpose & ½ whole wheat), 1 tsp butter, 1 tsp oil, ½ cup salted warm water.
Filling De-stem and finely chop swiss chard. Heat 2tbs oil in a large skillet.  Sautee one medium chopped onion until soft, add 2 cloves garlic til fragrant, then swiss chard.  Season with 1tsp oregano, salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning to taste.  Cook well.
	In a medium bowl mix 3 eggs, 1 cup ricotta cheese, ½ cup parmesan cheese.  Mix in swiss chard
Split pie dough in half and roll out two thin crusts.  Lay down the bottom crust in your greased pie tin and pour in filling.  Make holes in the filling and add as many full eggs as you would like without allowing them to break. (I used the smallest round cookie cutter, pushing the filling aside I placed it in the pie and cracked an egg inside.)
	Cover with second crust and bake at 350 for 45mins

Ingredients:

Crust
1tsp oil
1tsp butter
1 cup flour
1/2 cup warm salted water, more or less

Filling

1 bunch spinach (swiss chard) finely chopped
3 eggs
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
salt, pepper, and italian seasoning to taste
2 cloves minced garlic
1 tsp oregano
1 cup ricotta
eggs, as many as desired unbroken.

Preheat oven to 350.

On a clean counter form a crown with the flour, in the center place butter, oil, and tbs water. Knead ingredients and add more water as needed until a soft dough forms.

Heat oil in a large skillet. Add onion and sautee til soft, add garlic til fragrant, then add swiss chard. Cook well and add salt, pepper, italian seasoning, and oregano.

In a medium bowl mix together eggs, parmesan, and ricotta. Then add swiss chard mixture.

Divide the dough in two. Toll out thinly then place 1/2 in greased pie tin. Add filling. Then crack whole eggs into dug out spots in filling. Cover with remaining dough and bake for 45mins.

Zucchini Bread

I may as well get this out of the way - Zucchini Bread. By far this is my family's favorite treat. The versatility of this recipe is awesome because you can substitute a wide variety of squashes for the zucchini including pumpkin puree. The spices are warm and inviting. Yes, their is sugar involved but, this treat is loaded with natural vitamins and minerals that you will never get out of something from the store in a box. So here we go:

First step: weigh your squash. This is super important. \While 2 small zucchini are about a pound the amount of zucchini significantly affects the recipe.

 As you can see, I have about 1 1/2 pounds here, so my recipe will be multiplied by 1.5. Next cut off the stem end and split in half. This is only so that it goes into the food processor... if you use a box grater you may just leave the squash whole. 

Next the food processor goes to work. Oh, how I love how quickly it gets the job done!

Next get the dry ingredients together. I use white whole wheat flour. You can use any combination of AP (all purpose) and whole wheat you desire. My family is used to the texture and flavor that the white whole wheat flour provides baked goods now. 

The dry ingredients get set aside as we prep the wet. The butter needs to be melted and then cooled. Mix together with the sugar and molasses as seen here.

One by one mix in the eggs until mixture is fully incorporated and light in color. Add vanilla if you so desire.

Take the wet mix and slowly fold into the dry. Do not fully mix this... there will still be a lot of the dry mixture visable when it's time to add the zucchini.

See here comes the zucchini. Gently fold this together until it's homogeneous. 

Like this. Now this can either be baked as a loaf or as muffins, which is what I chose this time.

1/3 c. of batter in each of the cups and then into a 350 degree oven for 30-35 minutes (45-55 if in a loaf). BTW - yes that is a broken pizza stone in the bottom of my oven. I like even heat :-)

Once a toothpick in the center of the muffin/loaf comes out clean, let them cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack to finish cooling (if they last that long). 

Zucchini Bread

Ingredients

16 oz. zucchini

10 oz. (about 2 c.) of white whole wheat flour

2 tsp of pumpkin pie spice (or 1 tsp. cinnamon, 1/2 tsp. ginger, 1/2 tsp. clove)

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

4 tbsp. butter

7 oz. (about 1 c.) white sugar

1 tbsp molasses (optional)

2 eggs

1/2 tsp vanilla (optional)

3/4 c. of chopped nuts, rasins or dried cranberries

Directions

1. Heat an over to 350 degrees. Grease a loaf pan. Shred the zucchini. Set aside
2. In a large bowl mix the dry ingredients.
3. In medium bowl melt and cool the butter. Blend with the sugar and molasses (if using) then add the eggs one by one and mix until smooth and light in color.
4. Add the wet mixture into the dry and slowly fold until the mixture is shaggy, with dry flour still present. Add the zucchini and any add in that desire. Fold until thoroughly combined.
5. Pour into a loaf pan and place in the middle of the oven for 45-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out with only a few dry crumbs. 
6. Cool in the pan 10 minutes and then on a cooling rack until room temperature. 

Week 3 - What a Bounty

I'm really excited for this week's share. My family has been praying for our farmer's since they told us about their grasshopper invasion. The photos they sent to members made my heart heavy. I'd never seen so many grasshoppers and neither had the farmers. 

When I saw what the share had to offer though, we were very thankful!

I have grand plans for this produce. The yellow squash, peppers, some onions and chard are going into a vegetable soup. The tomatoes are getting combined with some of my basil and super special olive oil for a delicious pasta dish. The zucchini is being made into bread for the kiddos. The potatoes are going to be roasted on the grill with butter thyme and rosemary to go with some chicken or whatever meat I have currently in the freezer. The cucumbers are going to be turned into a yogurt sauce for chickpea cakes. The kale with be fried up into sausage pasta. I imagine every once of produce will be consumed before the next share will be picked up. 

Here's today's dish:

I started by placing a large pot of water on to boil with some salt. Then diced all of my tomatoes. I reserved a pint jar full for tomorrow's vegetable soup which left me with just under a pound of diced tomatoes. 

I then minced a small onion (from last week's share). Placed my favorite 12 inch cast iron skillet on to heat with a good amount of olive oil. This is when I realized I was out of fresh garlic... garlic powder was going to have to stand in. I sauteed the onions until translucent and added the tomatoes.

A minute later the pasta was cooked so it got added to the pot.

I turned off the heat and I chiffonade basil, added that along with a touch of garlic powder and salt.

Basically the dish was done. Except the finishing, which I wasn't able to get a picture of as my phone died in the process :-) such is my life. The final step is plating - drizzle an excellent quality extra virgin olive oil over the pasta and sprinkle with freshly grated parmesan cheese. Needless to say my children where very quiet at the dinner table tonight.

Tomato Basil Spaghetti

Ingredients:

1 13.5 oz. box of whole wheat spaghetti

2 tbsp. olive oil (don't waste the extra virgin here)

1 small onion, minced

2 cloves of garlic, minced or pressed (substitute 1/4 tsp. garlic powder)

1 lb. fresh tomatoes, diced

1/4 -1/2 c. fresh basil, chiffonade

salt and pepper

extra virgin olive oil

parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Place a stock pot with 4 quarts of water on high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of salt and allow to boil. Once rolling boil add the pasta and cook according to package directions (no longer!)
2. While water is coming to a boil heat a 12 inch skillet with 2 tbsp. of olive oil. Once hot saute the onion until translucent, a couple of minutes. Add the garlic, followed by the tomatoes. Cook for a minute until heated through. Add the al dente pasta right into the skillet along with some pasta water if things get too tight. Kill the heat add the basil, salt and pepper to taste. Toss liberally and serve drizzled with good olive oil and freshly grated parmesan cheese.

I hope you enjoy this simple, fresh classic.