Key Takeaways
• The best way to cook zucchini is quick and high heat, either in a pan, on a grill or in the oven. Don’t cook it.
• Cook the slices with a little olive oil or butter and some salt and pepper.
When my husband and I were together for the first time, he thought he would address my Italian roots by making a dinner from pasta and zucchini. It was not very good – the zucchini was mushy – but I still got it.
Zucchini can be difficult to cook. Often, rubber -like, wet or even spongy. However, Zucchini farmers say that there are so many great opportunities to prepare it – as long as they take into account a thing that all three farmers I talked about.
The farmers agree: high heat is the key
Sautéing, roasting and grilling-all cooking methods with a high heat-sind the best ways to cook zucchini, says Patrick Horan, co-owner of Waldingfield FarmA organic farm in Washington, Connecticut. His favorite method is to cook it quickly on the grill or in a pan at high temperature With a little oil or butter. “It’s easy,” says Horan. “Olive oil and salt and pepper taste. Let the zucchini shine.”
Heat is the key, says Jenna Cox Scott, manager of COX Farms Inc.., based in Gaston, Indiana. Your preferred way of cooking zucchini High heat on a hot grill or a hot frying pan to get a good sear.
“The use of a good amount of oil helps to get the use you need with high heat and avoid sticking it,” she says. “Don’t try to turn the zucchini over too early either. Almost like a piece of steak, it is released from the pan from the pan when it has a good Sear and is ready to turn around.”
“I think zucchini, as you want it, great: fried, baked, grilled or steamed,” April Robertson from April from April from April Robertson Family Farm In King, North Carolina, where Zucchini is one of his annual plants.
Robertson says that her preferred way of preparing the vegetables Bake it in a hot oven. (The best temperature is 450 ° F.) It cuts it and adds a little butter, salt, pepper, vegetable dust spice and parmesan cheese before put it in a hot oven until they are tender. “You can add a vegetarian dust spice and it gives a great taste if you don’t like the taste of the zucchini.”
Both Horan and Scott say that the only thing you avoid is cooking.
“The only The reason why I cook zucchini is when I freeze it for long storage in my deep freezing, “says Scott.
Simply recipes / nick Evans
Zucchini cooking tips from farmers
For best results, Always let the skin on zucchini, no matter how you cook itsays Robertson. “Keep it in the eye so that it is not overcooked because it can convert over the boil into a mushy mess.”
Make sure that all of your parts are about the same size so that you can cook at the same speed. “When you wait for the larger pieces to cook, the smaller ones are overloaded and crumbled and become the mushy texture that is not so desirable,” says Scott.
The size is important when choosing zucchini. “The best zucchini are the little ones who are not filled with all seeds“Robertson says.” On our farm we pick them small, tender and young. The bigger they get, the larger the seeds. ”
Horan says he is looking for zucchini who are about six to eight inches long. You should agree. “But if you are big, you can also plug them and bake or make zucchini donuts or bread.”
Scott also prefers smaller to medium -sized zucchini because they are more delicate and usually have a more even shape. It uses the larger ones for stuffed zucchini recipes.
“In addition, different varieties of zucchini can affect the taste and give visual attraction,” she says. “Italian zucchini have a nice two -colored strip and yellow or croocneck can be very tender and add a nice color.”
