Early on in our relationship, a good 20 years ago, I made my not-yet-husband a lasagna. It was an old hippie recipe from my childhood, layered with coins of zucchini. He praised the meal appropriately for a dude who just ate lasagna someone made for him.
But a few hours later, he looked quizzical.
“I’m wondering,” he said quietly, “about the choice to put pickles in the lasagna.”
They weren’t, of course. But learning that he wasn’t really a fan of zucchini or summer squash, I mostly pressed pause on planning meals around those fruits. And you always want what you can’t have. Over the years, zucchini became an obsession.
These days, I find ways to cater to my cravings—I love a big zucchini lunch—and he’s softened his stance a bit. So I’m gleefully working my way down this list of bookmarked zucchini dishes.
I’m curious what other recipes you’d add. If there are going to be just a handful more zucchini-based meals in summer, how should I spend them?
There are a lot of recipes in this email, so it may get truncated in your inbox—click here for the web version. This edition of The Recipe Files is brought to you with support from Brooklinen, the makers of my current favorite set of sheets.
When Pati Jinich says you should make a recipe, I don’t need much more prompting. This zucchini torte just happens to be gluten-free, too.
Corn, coconut, zucchini, and cashews come together in this one-pot recipe from Meera Sodha.
These meatballs from Ali Slagle are half chicken, half zucchini, which means they won’t dry out. This would be really good served with a little orzo and chickpea combo.
Is this the year I actually make zucchini fritters? I love the idea of serving these with tzatziki.
Zucchini, harissa, and fresh and preserved lemon? Of course that’s good.
A one-bowl chocolate-zucchini cake from my old coworker Jesse Szewczyk, who absolutely knows cake.
I’d eat Rachel Roddy’s carbonara-pasta situation with strips of zucchini every day if I could.
Greek yogurt and white beans make this chilled zucchini soup nice and creamy.
Roasting shingled potatoes, zucchini, and red onions Greek-style makes for a great-looking dinner party dish.
Another gorgeous shingled situation (with eggplant, mustard, and a pastry crust, too) from Rebecca Firkser.
Andrea Aliseda’s crispy zucchini tacos are simply a dream. Think baja fish tacos, but plant-based.
You can use up 8 or more zucchini or yellow squash in this buttery, cheesy casserole from Vivian Howard.
Sweat out a hot day with Annie Shi’s soondubu jigae-inspired spicy tofu and zucchini stew.
You’ll add roasted half-moons of zucchini to this bright combination of fregola, lemon, pistachio, and basil.
This zucchini butter spaghetti has been making the rounds for awhile now.
My household goes through a lot of cottage cheese these days, so I love the idea of using it in Grace Elkus’s sheet-pan summer veggie parm. Would be fun to pile it on bread for a sandwich too.
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Yes to the zucchini fritters!
One of my longtime favorites is the Zucchini Lemon Cookies from Food 52. It won “best zucchini recipe” back when Food 52 used to do those contests. I also recently made the Summer Squash Boursin Galette from Caro Chambers, which I made with yellow squash, but zucchini would be awesome too. Even my son whose not a squash fan enjoyed it!
Love love love zucchini! I grew it in my summer garden this year and it tasted phenomenal! I will definitely need to dig into some of these recipes to use up the rest of the zucchini I have.