I know what you’re thinking, not another zucchini recipe from Casa Morgana. The zucchini in our garden don’t look like they’re slowing down soon- in fact, they are gaining momentum, so my zucchini repertoire continues to expand. This recipe is based on the famous Melanzane Parmigiana but is made with fresh zucchini instead of eggplant, along with a sauce from their garden team-mate, fresh tomatoes. It is, for me, Italian comfort food at its best, and good when I feel tired. If you don’t have fresh tomatoes, use a large can of tomatoes instead. Start the prep early, given the stages to this homely dish.
Zucchini Parmigiana (Serves 4-6 with salad and a side dish)
Ingredients.
- one kilo medium-sized zucchini
- a little olive oil
- salt and pepper
- 4-5 garlic cloves, crushed then chopped
- one kilo of fresh vine ripened tomato
- herbs, either fresh basil or fried oregano
- 1-2 tablespoons of tomato paste
- sliced mozzarella
- grated grana padano parmigiano cheese.
- Choose a kilo of medium-sized zucchini. Cut the ends off and slice them vertically. Don’t cut these too finely as they need to stand up to some intense cooking and hold their shape in the final layering.
- Choose a gratin baking dish, either oval or oblong. Butter or oil base and sides.
- Grill the sliced zucchini on a stove top ridged griller. When all done, keep aside and season lightly as you go.
- Skin the tomatoes, then chop them, removing most of the seed.
- Add some olive oil to a saucepan, cook the garlic briefly, then throw in the tomatoes and herbs. Let the sauce simmer and cook down slowly for 30 minutes or more. Add tomato paste to thicken. The sauce should still have some texture, unlike tomato passata.
- Begin layering the dish, starting with a little sauce, followed by the zucchini (cut these to size as you go to match your serving dish). Then some mozzarella, then some grated parmesan.
- Continue layering in this way until the ingredients are used, finishing with a cheese layer.
- Bake in a medium oven, 180c FF for around 20 minutes or until the top has coloured.
- Serve with a side dish that will soak up the juices. I chose some orecchiette with a little butter, pepper and fresh basil leaves. Mash is also good or just crusty bread.
ALMOST ITALIAN 
I love them but a glut really is a glut, isn’t it?
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It is, but I will continue to post on them- after all, some people don’t share my overload and like a good old fashioned recipe.
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Brilliant. I will definitely be making this sooner rather than later! I can nearly always get organic zucchini here. Thank you, Francesca.
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Mouth watering!
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Molto Italiano e un po’ diverso.
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Si, infatti (don’t know how correct it is)
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Did you hear the earth shaking over the weekend? The G.O. ate zucchini. Twice. My sister put it -big pale firm homegrown sweet zucchini- on squewers and in a spicy beef mince dish. The G.O.’s been thinking about a chicken parmi dinner… maybe I can swing zucchini parmi 🙂
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OH No, a zucchini convert. Make him a zucchini parma and he won’t even notice. Now you must be down the GOR- the weather has put on a show for you two. enjoy the road trip.
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We’ve had a few delightful days r&r at Barwon Heads. Tomorrow we set off down the GOR 🙂
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Off this goes to mia nuora!
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Tua nuora probabilmente conosce questa ricetta.
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I want to lick my screen. I wish I had a zucchini glut to use up… but I shall have to see what I can do about acquiring some from the markets to make this. Thanks for sharing! 🙂
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Hahha thanks Lisa, Lick the screen indeed.
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Had melanzane parmigiana last night…one of our favourite suppers…very impressed with you picture…and the idea of using courgettes 🙂
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The courgettes / zucchini are often more prolific in our garden than the melanzane. We give them away, we give them to the chooks. Every time I go to the garden there are 6 more beasts to deal with. This recipe is very handy, and tastes as good as the old classic you know.
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Filed away for future use…Thanks
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Hope you enjoy it when the zucchini glut heads your way David.
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I love zucchini. Have a tonne of zucchini recipes. Doing a zucchini mint and basil salad this weekend in fact signora morgana.
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Another classic- the zucchini mint and vinegar salad. We two could write il libro di zucchini.
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Zucchini envy here. Not a lousy, bloody, single one here. Nor a pumpkin and the tomatoes have dropped dead overnight. Show me as many zuccs as you like! I can dream 🙂
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I wish I could hand them over the back fence to you- every day there are more: they seem to grow overnight. Another 3 kilo batch of soup to make this morning for the freezer. My pumpkins are late- but then they always are around here. The tomatoes are still going strong.
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Big fan of eggplants and zuccs treated this way, esp with fresh toms and some sourdough to clean the plate with. Zucchini parma for us this week, thanks for the inspiration
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Hi there Francesca, I’ve popped over from Julie’s to say hello and meet you. 😀 Just now I have four organic zucchinis languishing in the fridge veggie drawer and was thinking what to do with them. I’m going for this! For the tomato sauce I’ve got in mind a jar of my roasted tomatoes with garlic I preserved last autumn. It’s so brilliant to come across your blog just at the right time. 😀 I’m off now to read more of your posts and find out more about you.
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Hi Veronica and welcome, nice to meet you. Hope the dish goes well. It is a bit like a lasagne without the pasta, though you could also add some cooked pasta sheets along the way too.
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Oh there can never be enough zucchini recipes in my books. this is a beauty for sure. it would go down well at my place
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Oh this sounds divine Francesca. My zuccs weren’t all that fab this year. They are nearly done and dusted. Funny how it changes from year to year. My toms however are doing wonderfully .. Enjoy the weekend lovely 😀
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This is beautiful – Ilove that you grilled the zucchini first. I would prefer this over any kind of meat Parmesan. Now I can’t wait for my summer zucchini!
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Great idea! I would much prefer this to eggplant. I have saved it till we get our own glut in a few months.
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Wow, this looks so delicious! I have a few zucchini in the fridge and I might just give this a go. Zucchini are something that I have to buy (I don’t personally know anyone who grows them!) but I am starting to understand the ‘zucchini glut’ thing through blogging friends and Instagram friends. I was amazed at how prolific one plant can be… and how massive the zucchini can get! x
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Zucchini are so ridiculous- another day, another 10!!!
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A wonderful recipe, Francesca. Every spring, I think about planting zucchini. I even found instructions for training a certain variety to “grow up” for gardeners like me with limited space. Dreams of parmigiana and stuffed blossoms aside, tales of the dreaded glut have scared me away. Maybe this year …
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Or maybe just grab a heap at the Farmer’s Market when the glut arrives.
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