Tag: zuchinni

Zucchini with Taleggio

15 May 2025

Zucchini, or courgette, is a favourite summer vegetable. Just think about sliced Trombetta’s, or Stuffed Flowers, or a combination with Farfalle and Fennel. Recently we bought beautiful round zucchinis, ideal to stuff and serve as a side dish. We’ve made these many times, with herbs like rosemary, thyme, oregano and Parmesan cheese. Tasty and not difficult to make. However, we think there’s room for improvement. How would it taste if we would use a richer, fatter, more aromatic cheese? We looked in the fridge. Perhaps Appenzeller? Or a traditional Dutch cheese? We decided to use Tallegio, a semi-soft cheese from Italy made from raw cow milk, with a mild taste. It melts easily, which makes it very suitable for this dish and for instance crostini.

Wine Pairing

The zucchini will be a great accompaniment with grilled lamb or chicken. You could also combine the zucchini with pasta or rice, making for a vegetarian meal.
We decided to drink a glass of red wine from the Douro region, produced by Quinta do Crasto. The wine is made from traditional Douro red grape varieties: tinta roriz, touriga nacional, tinta barroca and touriga franca. The wine is fresh, fruity and very pleasant. Its colour is deep ruby and the wine has aromas of ripe red fruit.
In general, we suggest a red wine with flavours and aromas of red fruit and with light tannins.

What You Need
  • 2 round Zucchinis
  • One Garlic Clove
  • Thyme
  • Black Pepper
  • Taleggio
  • Olive Oil
What You Do
  1. Remove the top of the zucchinis
  2. Preheat your oven to 180 °C or 355 °F
  3. Use a teaspoon to remove the inside of the zucchini, also of the cap. Be careful not to damage the skin of the zucchini
  4. Use a knife to chop the ‘meat’
  5. Add olive oil to a pan
  6. When warm, add the meat and fry/glaze for a few minutes
  7. Finely chop the garlic and add to the pan
  8. Finely chop the thyme
  9. Add thyme and black pepper. Mix and leave on low/medium heat for a few minutes
  10. Let cool
  11. Fill the bottom half of the zucchini with the mixture
  12. Add a slice of taleggio
  13. Fill the zucchini with the mixture
  14. Add a second slice of taleggio on top
  15. Transfer the stuffed zucchinis and the tops to the oven and fry for 15 minutes or until golden
  16. Serve with the top on the zucchini
PS

The winemaker, Quinta Do Crasto, provides excellent background information. Interesting to read about the weather, the harvest, the production and the timing.

Zucchini with Taleggio ©cadwu
Zucchini with Taleggio ©cadwu

Petits Farcis

15 May 2023

Not only do they look delicious, but they also taste delicious: Légumes Farcis or Petits Farcis. Easy to make and always a pleasure to serve. You could buy them ready made from your delicatessen or butcher, but why would you? Prepare them at home the way you personally prefer them, perhaps with some extra shallot, herbs or garlic.

Let’s talk a bit about the farce, the stuffing of the vegetables. It should fill the vegetable, obviously, and remain connected to the vegetable, also when cooked. Its texture must be loosely. This is where most recipes go wrong when they tell you to add panko or breadcrumbs to the farce. Follow this instruction and you will notice that during the cooking process the filling will become smaller and firmer. There you are: a meatball in a tomato. That’s not what you want. Not at all! Lesson learned, no panko, no breadcrumbs.

The meat should be nicely fat, not too finely minced and preferably a combination of porc and veal. Tasty, sufficiently fat and elegant. You could also use sausage meat. When in doubt, ask your butcher.

Wine Pairing

Keep it simple! A dry white wine, a rosé or a nice beer will be perfect. Serve what you think is best with this tasty, juicy and heart-warming food.

What You Need

  • Vegetables such as Tomatoes, Courgette, Red Bell Pepper
  • Minced Meat or Sausage Meat
  • Shallot
  • Parsley
  • Garlic
  • Black Pepper

What You Do

Finely chop the shallot, the garlic and the parsley. Additionally you could use thyme, rosemary or oregano. Combine the meat with the shallot, the garlic, the herbs and black pepper. Cut off the top of the tomato and use a knife and a teaspoon to hollow out the tomato. Keep the pulp and the seeds. Slice the bell pepper lengthwise and remove the seeds and the ribs. Discard. Cut off the top of the courgette and use a teaspoon to hollow out the courgette. Keep the pulp. Add the farce to the vegetables. Close the tomatoes and the courgettes with the caps. Transfer to a baking dish, add some olive oil, the pulp and the seeds of the tomatoes and the courgette to the dish. You could add some extra shallot. Cook in the oven for 45 minutes (depending on the size) on 180 °C or 355 °F.
Enjoy hot or lukewarm (with some of the cooking liquid), perhaps with a simple green salad or rice.

Petits Farcis ©cadwu
Petits Farcis ©cadwu

Zucchini with Oregano and Parmesan Cheese

8 September 2022

Recently a friend who lives in Liguria, north-western Italy, gave us a Trombetta d’Albenga. This is a zucchini, shaped like an antique trumpet. What makes it interesting is related to its shape: the seeds of this kind of zucchini are in the bell of the trumpet only, meaning that most of the zucchini is free of seeds. Which makes it ideal for a salad or for frying, especially when it’s young. Older trombettas tend to be yellowish and firmer; more pumpkin-like.

It’s wonderful to prepare this starter with Trombetta d’Albenga, however they are hard to find outside of Liguria, so we prepared this dish both with a trombetta and with a young normal zucchini. The trombetta is firmer and its taste creamier, nevertheless in both cases it’s a healthy, very tasty, vegetarian starter, one to share and enjoy with friends. It’s crunchy, salty, full of flavours, soft and slightly bitter.

Wine Pairing

The most popular grape in Liguria is Vermentino, which is used to produce white wines. Don’t worry if you can’t find a wine made with vermentino. In general a glass of rosé or white wine will be nice with the zucchini, provided the wine is fresh, with a touch of acidity and notes of citrus or green apples.

What You Need

  • One Trombetta or Young Zucchini
  • Breadcrumbs or Panko
  • Dried Oregano
  • Parmesan Cheese
  • Olive Oil

What You Do

Wash and slice the vegetable. If using a zucchini, drizzle with salt and mix. Let the mixture rest for two hours, allowing for the zucchini to lose water and become firm. Best way to do this, is by putting the zucchini in a sieve and let it rest above a bowl. Wash the zucchini.
If the dried oregano is not very fine, then use a kitchen knife to make the dried leaves smaller. Mix breadcrumbs or panko with a generous amount of freshly grated Parmesan cheese and Oregano. Heat a non-stick pan with olive oil. Coat the slices of zucchini with the mixture and fry quickly until golden. When ready, leave for a minute or two and serve the trombetta warm.

Trombetta d'Albenga
Zucchini with Oregano and Parmesan ©cadwu
Trompette_d'argent_et_sa_sourdine_en_bois_du_tombeau_de_Toutânkhamon

Ratatouille

18 August 2021

Think summer vegetables, think Ratatouille! Which is also the title of a film released in 2007 about a rat called Remy with a passion for cooking. If you want to see how he prepares ratatouille then simply go to YouTube (or buy the DVD if you’re old fashioned like us).
Ratatouille brings back memories of summer, of the South of France, of the Mediterranean. It combines very well with a simple sausage, with lamb, with grilled chicken.
However you prepare your ratatouille, be sure to prepare it a day ahead. The taste becomes much more integrated after a day (or two) in the refrigerator. Unfortunately it doesn’t freeze well due to the eggplant.

Our recipe is very much the recipe of a dear friend. She taught us how to make ratatouille in her summer kitchen, overlooking the pool and the garden with herbs and vegetables. Indeed, fond memories.
To our surprise she added cilantro (you would expect thyme or basil) and many years later we are still grateful for this twist. The cilantro enhances the feeling of summer and it supports the various vegetables in a beautiful way.

Wine Pairing

We enjoyed our ratatouille with a glass of simple, red wine with lots of red and black fruits. Spicy with subtle tannins. A wine that brings summer to your glass.

What You Need (4 people)

  • 1 Eggplant or Aubergine
  • 1 Courgette or Zucchini
  • 1 Red Bell Pepper
  • 1 Chili Pepper
  • 4 Excellent Tomatoes
  • Cilantro
  • Olive oil

What You Do

Start by cutting the aubergine in small but not too small chunks. Drizzle with salt and mix. Let the mixture rest for a few hours, allowing for the aubergine to loose water and become firm. Best way to do this is by putting the aubergine in a sieve and let it rest above a bowl.
The tomatoes require some attention as well. You could peel them, but that’s optional. What is not optional is to separate the tomato meat and juices from the pits. First step is to remove the internal hard bits and the pits and put these aside. You now have the outer part of the tomato, which you can slice. Cut the remainder of the tomatoes roughly, add to a sieve and by using the back of a spoon make sure you capture the juices. Be surprised about the volume of tomato juice and the small amount of tomato bits and pits that remain in your sieve.

Cut the bell pepper into long slices and fry these in the pan with olive oil. Peel the courgette, slice in the way you sliced the aubergine and add to the pan. Continue frying. Add the finely chopped chilli pepper (not the seeds of course). Add the firm aubergine after having removed the remaining salt with water. After a few moments add the tomato chunks, fry a bit more, add the tomato juice and leave on low to medium heat for 60 minutes. Try not to stir too much; otherwise you risk creating mashed vegetables. Cool, set aside and store in the refrigerator.
The next day: if you have excess liquid, remove the vegetables from the liquid, reduce it until thickened and transfer the vegetables back into the pan. Otherwise gently warm the ratatouille, add some chopped cilantro, mix gently and add more cilantro just before serving.

Ratatouille ©cadwu
Ratatouille ©cadwu