zucchini Archives - The Midnight Baker

Zucchini Sausage Soup

Judith Hannemann — Sat, 10 Oct 2020 23:00:15 +0000

Use up some of that summer zucchini in this delicious and hearty soup.

Use That Summer Zucchini

Still have some of that zucchini left from the summer garden? Or maybe it was a neighbor who unloaded some excess on you?

I’ve heard lots of jokes about zucchini’s abundance. To be honest, my late husband and I never had any success with growing it. One year’s yield was one. The next year we grew a round zucchini variety since it claimed to be a “prolific grower.” The year we grew that, we got two. For us it was prolific.

Since we loved zucchini, we relied on the kindness of others to give us what they couldn’t use. Besides the usual minestrone, I wanted to incorporate it into a nice creamy style soup. Cream soups are my passion.

Sausage Makes It A Meal

I might add at this point that zucchini freezes well after it’s been blanched and dried. When it’s been frozen, it’s perfect for soups.

My husband and I were fond of making soups a meal along with a crusty roll and a salad.

The types of soup I regard as a complete meal are hearty and stick to your ribs. Mind you, this quality isn’t dependent on meat. Adding beans, rice and potatoes are excellent options if you’re vegetarian. I’ll get to the vegans later in the post.

This soup uses meat. Bulk Italian sausage to be exact. Sausage also flavors the soup since it’s full of herbs and spices. That way there’s no complicated seasonings besides the basic salt and pepper.

I used sweet Italian sausage meat in this, but you could use the hot variety or any other specialty variety that your store stocks. If you do use the hot sausage, then omit the red pepper flakes unless you want to make it more zippy. I only used a pinch since my husband was not into “zippy.” A pinch will impart a nice flavor and won’t be hot at all.

For The Vegans

You can use the suggestion in the above paragraph when you don’t use meat at all. And for the cream, nut milks–any variety–would be a great substitute. Vegan butter or olive oil can stand in for the regular butter and a high-quality vegetable stock is a good sub for the chicken stock.

The Recipe

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Zucchini Sausage Soup

Hearty and comforting soup

Prep Time10

Cook Time15

Course: Dinner, Main, Main Course, Soup

Cuisine: American

Keyword: soups that are a meal, using excess zucchini, zucchini soup

Servings: 4

Calories: 432kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

2 medium onions chopped
8 oz sweet Italian sausage meat
2 tbs butter
6 medium zucchini sliced (1 1/2 lbs)
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup half and half cream or light cream. See NOTES
1/8 tsp salt
1 pinch red pepper flakes

Thickening:

1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup water

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Heat butter in a large dutch oven over medium heat. Add the sausage and the onion and cook until the sausage is no longer pink, breaking up into smaller bits as it cooks.
Add the zucchini, chicken stock, salt and pepper flakes. Bring to boil, then reduce heat to simmer and cook until the zucchini is crisp-tender.
Add the cream and heat through.
If you wish to thicken the soup, mix the flour and water and gradually stir into the soup. Heat until the soup gently bubbles then cook, stirring frequently, until the flour is cooked--about 5 minutes.

Notes

For UK and EU--"half and half" is equal parts of whole (full fat) milk and single (light) cream.

Nutrition

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Panang Chicken

Judith Hannemann — Tue, 22 Oct 2019 23:00:59 +0000

Panang chicken is a super way to use up that garden zucchini. Included is a great method for cooking perfect rice to fry.

Odds And Ends Chicken Stir Fry

If you’re looking to use up odds and ends you have in the fridge when there’s not enough to go around for everyone, consider this tasty stir fry.

This is also great if you have a bumper crop of zucchini (courgettes) from the garden. The zucchini gives this meal an interesting flavor.

Leftover chicken can also be used here. I used fresh, but leftover cooked chicken breast can work equally as well.

Actually any combination of veggies will work in this. Reason is it’s the spices that give Panang chicken is great flavor.

Cooking Perfect Rice: Non-Stick Rice

One of the best tips I picked up from Mary Berry is how to cook non-stick rice. Done this way, you will cook perfect rice every time you want fried rice or it’s included in a stir fry.

I think we all know that cold rice is the key to making any fried rice crispy, but it still remains sticky. I’ve always had that problem no matter what I do. I’ve rinsed and rinsed pre-cooking to no avail. Also did the “no touch” until the water was completely absorbed…you name it, I did it. However, the rice was always sticky.

The way the rice is cooked here is the thing that works. It’s simple; you cook it as you would pasta–in a large amount of water. When it’s tender, you drain it in a strainer then rinse it thoroughly in cold water. Voila–the rice is cool enough to use and it’s not at all sticky!

Chili Sauce

Since I adapted this from a European recipe, what they call “chili sauce” was a bit of a mystery to me. My sister couldn’t help me since she’s not into spicy foods at all and doesn’t have a clue. So I relied on Google images for my clue–it may not be authentic but I got the idea.

I thought that this wasn’t what we in the States call chili sauce–you know the sweet Heinz stuff (but I could be wrong so let your individual tastes decide). So I opted for either Thai chili sauce and/or chili garlic sauce. These are the kind that are pourable not the paste kind. They’re also a bit on the hot side so use a bit of caution. It might taste good with American-style chili sauce too so if you’re not too adventurous when it comes to hotsy totsy, you might want to stick with that. If all else fails, I’d just chop up a medium-heat chili pepper and use that.

The Recipe

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Panang Chicken

Got a lot of zucchini from your garden? Use it in Panang chicken

Prep Time15

Cook Time20

Course: Chicken, Dinner, Main, Main Course

Cuisine: Asian

Keyword: Asian chicken recipe, chicken, cooking perfect rice, stir fry recipe

Servings: 6

Calories: 288kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

2 tbs olive oil
2 chicken breasts cut into very thin strips
1 tbs honey
1 onion finely chopped
1 zucchini/courgette finely chopped
1 red pepper finely chopped
2 sticks celery finely chopped
2 tsp grated ginger
2 garlic cloves crushed
1 tbs curry powder
1 cup uncooked rice
3 tbs soy sauce
1 tbs sweet chili sauce
½ lime juice only
salt and freshly ground black pepper

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Bring a saucepan of water to the boil and cook the rice (about 10–12 minutes). Drain well, rinse and set aside to cool completely.
Heat the oil in a frying pan, season the chicken with salt and pepper and add to the pan. Drizzle with the honey and fry quickly over a high heat for a few minutes until golden and just cooked. Remove from the pan and set aside.
Add the onion, zucchini, red pepper and celery to the pan. Fry for 4–5 minutes, stirring. Stir in the ginger, garlic and curry powder and fry for another minute. Add the cooled rice, soy sauce, chlli sauce and lime juice. Toss and season with little salt and pepper. Return the chicken to the pan and heat through.

Notes

See post relating to chili sauce.

Video

Nutrition

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Roasted Squash “Lasagna”

Judith Hannemann — Sun, 24 Aug 2014 23:00:00 +0000

Roasted Squash Lasagna

Here’s a great and tasty way to use those excess summer squashes–like zucchini! This roasted veggie “lasagna” doubles as a vegetarian main or delicious side dish.

The other day, my neighbor came bearing fruits–that being 2 huge zucchinis and 2 huge yellow squashes.

Now I love summer squash, and there’s about a zillion things to do with it, but this was quite a lot for me. I wanted to use them because, heck, they were fresh, organic and home grown.

Who doesn’t love roasted veggies? Particularly zucchini. I do and decided I was going to do a nice cheesy roasted squash lasagna.

Great way to use excess from the garden

I had some fontina left over from another project of mine so I used a combination of mozzarella (that I wanted to use up as well) and fontina. OF COURSE it had to contain my beloved Asiago too. I wanted crunch so added some buttered panko crumbs to top the whole thing off.

There’s steps involved in this, so it’s not 1-2-3 to make, however, the steps are simple–and worth it.

It’s a vegetarian entree too! Great for those nights you want to go meatless. And if you grow squash or someone gifts you with it, it’s a pretty economical meal too.

Roasted Squash “Lasagna”

4 medium-large summer squashes (yellow or zucchini)
2 large tomatoes
1/4 cup olive oil
8 oz mozzarella or fontina
1/2 cup shredded Asiago
2 tbs grated parmesan or Romano cheese
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
1 tbs butter, melted
salt
pepper
garlic powder

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Lightly spray 2 large baking sheets.

Wash & dry squash. Cut lengthwise into pieces about 1/4-inch thick. Place on baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil, turning to coat all sides. Season with salt, pepper and garlic powder, if desired, to taste.

Roast squash about 20 minutes, turning half way through the cooking time. Remove from oven and cool slightly.

Lower oven temp to 375 degrees F. Lightly spray or grease a deep 9 x 9-inch baking dish.

Slice tomatoes thinly. You can either shred the mozzarella/fontina or cut it in 1/8-inch slices (I prefer the slices–more rustic).

Add a layer of squash to the bottom of the pan. Lay cheese on top of squash. Layer tomatoes and sprinkle with grated parmesan. Repeat, ending with a squash layer (and any leftover tomato slices if you have any).

Mix panko crumbs with melted butter and top lasagna with them.

Bake at 375 degrees F for 25-30 minutes or until crumbs are golden brown and cheeses are completely melted.

Serves 4 as a main dish, 8 as a side.

Roasted Squash Lasagna

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Pepperoni Pizza Zucchini Boats

Judith Hannemann — Thu, 21 Aug 2014 23:00:00 +0000

Pepperoni Pizza Zucchini Boats

Good way to use excess zucchini! Added benefit is it’s low carb and gluten free. Tastes just like pizza too!

Perfect way to use that zucchini!

If you like pepperoni pizza, you’ll love these zucchini boats. I wanted to use up a half package of cream cheese, but you can substitute ricotta if you want to do that.

I also grow a hot and spicy variety of oregano, and I have to say, it imparts a great zip to this, but plain old dehydrated that you have in your cupboard will do just fine.

Side dish or meal by itself, it’s delicious

While they can be done entirely on your BBQ grill, I chose to brown and bubble the cheese topping under my broiler. This is so quick, it won’t heat your kitchen. It’s purely for appearance and has nothing to do with the flavor, so the step can be eliminated.

Pepperoni Pizza Zucchini Boats

2 medium zucchini (about 6-8 inches long)
olive oil
1/4 cup shredded mozzarella
Filling:
4 oz soft cream cheese
1 tbs finely diced sun-dried tomatoes
1 clove garlic, finely minced
2 tbs finely diced pepperoni
2 tsp finely chopped fresh hot & spicy oregano -OR- 1/8 tsp regular dried oregano

Cut zucchini in half lengthwise. Using a small melon baller, remove seeds from center making a channel. Set aside.

Mix all filling ingredients. Spread in the channels of each zucchini half.

Drizzle with olive oil.

BBQ Grill Method:
Preheat grill to medium-low heat. Place zucchini, filled side up, on grill. Grill for about 10-15 minutes. Top with mozzarella and grill until cheese is melted. May also be popped under the broiler after adding mozzarella if you desire a browned top.

Oven Method:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place zucchini on baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes, or until crisp-tender. Top with cheese and bake for an additional 5-10 minutes or until cheese is melted. May also be popped under the broiler after mozzarella is added if browned top is desired.

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