Use up that zucchini in this side dish perfect for the summer
This is an innovative summer casserole adapted from Julia Child’s recipe.
Ingredients:
2 1/2 pounds zucchini,* shredded, salted and left in a strainer for 30 minutes, then squeezed in a tea towel until dry. Make sure to save the zucchini water! We will use it. NOTE: If your zucchini has thick or tough skin, you may want to peel it first.
Butter at room temperature for buttering your pan
1/2 cup white rice
5 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 large garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
pinch of nutmeg
2 1/2 cups total of liquid from zucchini squeezing + milk (50/50 mix good, but could be more milk heavy if your zucchini did not have much water)
2/3 cup parmigianno regianno, grated
salt and pepper to taste
Equipement:
gratin pan or baking dish
Method:
- Pre-heat oven to 350F.
- Butter your gratin pan or baking dish well.
- Make sure to get as much of the moisture out of the shredded zucchini as possible by repeatedly squeezing it in a kitchen towel until most of the moisture has been removed. Reserve 1-1/4 cup of zucchini juice.
- In a large sauté pan, heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the onion, season with a little pepper, and cook on low for about 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, bring a saucepan of water to a boil. Add salt, as you would when cooking pasta, add the rice and cook for exactly 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, strain and set aside.
- When you have squeezed as much water as possible from the zucchini, place it on a piece of paper towel, to absorb the last bit of water.
- Once the onion is soft and starting to caramelize, add the garlic and contiune to cook on low for 2 more minutes.
- Add the dried shredded zucchini to the sauteé pan, stir, and cook for another 3 minutes.
- Meanwhile, measure 2 1/2 cups total liquid: a mix of the reserved zucchini juice from squeezing and whole milk. (This depends on how much juice your zucchini had. If you have a dry zucchini, you will need to make up the difference with more milk. If you have ample zucchini juice, a 50/50 split is perfect: 1 1/4 cup zucchini juice + 1 1/4 cup milk.)
- Place the zucchini juice and milk mixture in a saucepan and heat until hot to the touch.
- Back to the sauté pan, sprinkle the flour and nutmeg over the zucchini/onion mixture and stir in. Stir in the strained rice.
- Pour the hot zucchini juice and milk into the sauté pan with the veggie/rice mixutre. Stir over medium/low heat, until well combined. Take care to make sure there are no flour lumps.
- Stir in all but 2 tablespoons of the grated parmigianno. Taste and add salt and pepper as needed.
- Pour everything into the buttered baking or gratin dish. Drizzle with the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil and sprinkle the remaining 2 tablespoons of parmigianno over the top.
- Bake at 350F for about 45 minutes, or until all the liquid has been absorbed and the top is golden brown and crispy. You might need to place it under the broiler for a minute or so to crisp.