Zucchini is a staple that I always keep in my fridge. The best part about zucchini is that if you don't end up cooking it throughout the week for lunch or dinner, you can make incredible desserts with it...and you can't even taste it!
I'm going to share 2 of my go-to zucchini recipes for you to try..
Zucchini tomato pasta
The perfect fresh, light, and healthy dinner!
Ingredients:
Zucchini
Tomatoes
Ditalini pasta
Garlic
Basil
Chicken boullion
Salt
Pepper
Crushed red pepper
Pecorino romano cheese
If you have read my previous blogs then you know I don't measure. So if you have never tried cooking without measuring here is your chance to test it out!
Steps:
1. Cut up your zucchini, tomatoes, and garlic.
*Tip: you want to cut the vegetables to match the size of your pasta. This is a trick I learned from my Sicilian grandpa. What I mean by this is if you have small pasta (like Ditalini) then cut your zucchini in smaller pieces, if you have larger sized pasta (like Rigatoni) then you can cut them into larger pieces.
2. Grab a pot of water and start bringing it to a boil for the pasta.
3. Now get out a skillet pan and put just enough water to cover just the bottom of the skillet and small drizzle of olive oil. You can start the burner and put a chicken bouillon into the skillet so that it melts.
4. Go ahead and throw in all of the zucchini, tomatoes, and garlic. Let those cook down for about 15 minutes. You might need to add some water as they cook down if the veggies start sticking to the pan.
5. While the zucchini and tomatoes are cooking down, you can add your pasta to the boiling water.
6. When the pasta is done cooking, drain it like normal and drizzle with some olive oil. Mix the zucchini into the pasta. Top with parmesan cheese and enjoy!
Double chocolate zucchini brownies
Deliciously rich and chocolatey for when you just need CHOCOLATE (that is healthy too)!
Ingredients:
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 tbsp vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
3 cups finely grated zucchini (not drained)
1 1/4 cups chocolate chips
Walnuts
Yes there are measurements on this blog recipe because when baking you NEED to measure!!!
Steps:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spray a 9x13 baking pan with coconut oil or olive oil spray.
2. In a bowl add oil, sugar, and vanilla until completely mixed together.
3. Then add flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Mix the wet and dry ingredients until combined. The batter should be dry!! It will get moist once you add the zucchini.
4. Add the zucchini into the bowl and stir. Once those ingredients are fully mixed, add the chocolate chips
5. Spread the batter into the baking pan and bake for 25-35 minutes. Check to see if the brownies are done by putting a fork into the center and seeing if there is wet batter on it.
These are just 2 of my favorite zucchini recipes but there is SO much you can do with this vegetable! After you try those zucchini brownies you will be sure to understand why zucchini is the most versatile vegetable!
Comment below your favorite zucchini dishes!