My 3 Favorite Zucchini Recipes

What did we do with our monster zucchinis you ask? How about the 10 others that have popped up in the last week? We've been eating them! (And giving them away.) Here are a few of the different ways we've been cooking up the treasures from our garden.

This first one is my new favorite. We've had it for dinner twice this week, and I could probably eat it lunch and dinner every day for the rest of the month. Seriously. It's that good.


Tomato Zucchini Casserole

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups grated Mozzarella cheese
• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 medium zucchinis, thinly sliced
• 5 plum tomatoes, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup butter
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped onion
• 3/4 cup fine bread crumbs

 Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly butter a 9x9-inch pan.(if you add more zucchini, tomatoes, and cheese, you can easily make it a 9x13 pan)
   
2. In a large bowl, combine Mozzarella, Parmesan, oregano, basil, and garlic. Season with salt and pepper, and set aside.
3. Arrange half of the zucchini slices in the pan. Sprinkle 1/4 of the cheese and herb mixture on top. Arrange half of the tomatoes, and top with another 1/4 of the cheese mixture. Repeat layers.
4. Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in onions, and cook until soft and translucent. Stir in breadcrumbs; cook until they have absorbed the butter. Sprinkle on top of casserole.
5. Cover loosely with foil, and bake in a preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil, and bake until the top is crusty and the vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes.

The second recipe is Aaron's sister Lisa's recipe, and I fell in love with it the first time I had it. I've made it twice already this zucchini season.

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Cake

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/4 cup oil

1 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

2 1/2 cups flour

1/4 cup cocoa

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup buttermilk (or if I don't have any I just use regular milk)

2 cups (or so) shredded zucchini

1/2 to 1 cup chocolate chips

1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional) 

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees

2. In a large bowl combine sugar, butter, oil, vanilla, and eggs; beat well

3. Add flour, cocoa, baking soda, cinnamon, and buttermilk; blend well

4. Fold in zucchini, chocolate chips, and nuts

5. Pour into greased 9x13 pan. Bake for 35-40 minutes until knife comes out clean.

* Try to catch it right when the knife becomes clean so it will not be dry. You can cool it and frost it, but we prefer without frosting because it is so moist. 

 The last one, I've only made once so far. For my taste buds it was good, but not fantastic, but my husband and father-in-law raved on and on about it so...it must be good, and I'm just weird. I dunno, I guess I just prefer banana bread instead. 

Zucchini Bread

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 2 1/4 cups white sugar
• 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups grated zucchini
• 1 cup chopped walnuts

Directions

1. Grease and flour two 8 x 4 inch pans. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Sift flour, salt, baking powder, soda, and cinnamon together in a bowl.
3. Beat eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar together in a large bowl. Add sifted ingredients to the creamed mixture, and beat well. Stir in zucchini and nuts until well combined. Pour batter into prepared pans.
4. Bake for 40 to 60 minutes, or until tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on rack for 20 minutes. Remove bread from pan, and completely cool.