Zucchini rollatini and zucchini-corn fritters

If you’ve ever grown zucchini in your home garden, you will know that it truly follows God’s command to “be fruitful and multiply,” when watered properly of course. Luckily for me, since I am not much of a gardener and tend to leave my plants parched for water, my aunt grows a beautiful assortment of fruits, vegetables, and herbs in her garden, and when she has had her fair share of a certain crop, she generously gives me the rest. One small squash plant can yield an over abundance of the fresh summer vegetable (although squash is technically a fruit), but also leave you at a crossroads when it comes to cooking. If you want your kids to eat their veggies, serving the same old steamed or even sauteed zucchini will likely bore any palate. It’s time for a squash makeover. Make zucchini the star of a dish, rather than a mushy superfluous ingredient.

Here’s an idea: zucchini rollatini. Just like the ever-common eggplant rollatini, this zucchini dish is an Italian delicacy. Long steaks of tender zucchini are grilled until pliable, and the gently rolled up with a creamy, fluffy filling of ricotta cheese, spinach, and Parmesan. These cheesy packages are topped with a simple marinara sauce and finished off in the oven until gooey and bubbly inside.

Serves 3, or 2 with leftovers.

for the zucchini:
2 large zucchini
extra virgin olive oil
salt and black pepper

for the filling:
8 oz. ricotta cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup fresh steamed spinach, chopped
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
salt and black pepper, to taste
pinch of nutmeg

1 cup marinara sauce, plus more for serving (favorite jarred or homemade)

Heat a large non-stick grill pan on medium-high heat. Slice the zucchini length-wise into 1/4-inch thick slices. Coat with extra virgin olive oil, salt, and black pepper. Grill for about five minutes on each side, or until the zucchini is tender and slightly charred with grill marks. Set aside to cool. While the zucchini cools, prepare the ricotta mixture. Mix the ricotta, Parmesan, fresh spinach, fresh basil, salt, black pepper, and nutmeg in a bowl. Spread a generous portion of the cheese filling over the zucchini, covering the entire length. Roll up the zucchini like a sushi roll and place in an 8×8 ceramic or glass baking dish. Repeat with the remaining ingredients until all of the filling and zucchini have been used. Top the rollatini with the tomato sauce and bake at 400 F for about 20 minutes, or until the cheese begins to bubble and brown around the edges. Serve with cooked whole wheat pasta or bread, and enjoy!

Here’s another idea: zucchini-corn fritters. Similar to potato pancakes, these zucchini-corn fritters take on a wonderful sweet and nutty aroma from the natural sugars in the corn and zucchini. These cakes, flapjacks, or whatever you’d like to call them, are brought to a whole new dimension when topped with a pungent chutney. Major Grey’s mango chutney is the most common variety available at most supermarkets, but feel free to explore some other tasty flavors, like tamarind or lemon.

Makes 12-15 fritters, depending on the size you make them.

1 large zucchini
1 ear of corn, steamed
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
1 egg
1 Tablespoon grated onion
salt and black pepper, to taste
1/3-1/2 cup cornmeal
extra virgin olive oil, for frying
chutney, for serving

With a box grater, grate the zucchini into a sieve with a bowl underneath so as to drain the zucchini. Salt the zucchini generously to draw out the moisture in the vegetable. Let stand at room temperature for at least one hour, occasionally pressing on the zucchini with a spoon or fork to aid in extracting much of its natural water. Meanwhile, prepare the rest of the batter. Steam the ear of corn in a shallow pan with a little bit of water. Set aside until it is cool enough to handle. Standing the corn upright, with the base on the cutting board, run your knife vertically along the cob to remove the corn kernels. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the egg, Greek yogurt, lemon juice, salt and black pepper. Then add in the grated onion and corn. Heat about 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large non-stick skillet on medium-high heat. At the last minute, add the zucchini to the batter, and slowly sprinkle in the cornmeal just so that the mixture comes together. (You may need between 1/3-1/2 cup, depending on how wet the batter is.) Fry one heaping spoonful of batter in the oil at a time for about 2-3 minutes on each side, or until each side is golden brown. Repeat with remaining batter, adding more oil to the pan each time you fry a new fritter. Keep the prepared fritters warm in a 300 F oven while the rest are cooking. If the batter seems to get more loose and wet as you continue to cook the fritters, add a few more tablespoons of cornmeal to the bowl and mix well to incorporate. Serve with chutney and enjoy!

Let me know what you think of these recipes… I might add them to my next cookbook.