Zucchini Apocalypse – Zucchini Scarpaccia
Every year it happens. The weather gets hot and sweaty, and the zucchinis grow from finger to baseball bat-size in a matter of hours. I am swamped. It’s the equivalent of a zombie apocalypse in the garden. They can be so prolific, it’s almost obscene. It would be great…if I actually liked zucchini.
I can only grill so much, and even then, I reach for other grilled vegetables before zucchini, and there are always leftovers. I could make them into zucchini latkes or fritters, or even chips like I ate at a Greek restaurant in Montreal long ago, but I avoid that scenario for the same reason I rarely stuff their blossoms from my garden – I don’t want to fry. I have sliced them into paper thin planks, salted, and oiled them, rolling to fill the slices with herbed goat cheese, for a tasty appetizer. But they’re still zucchini. One of these days I should try my mother’s ratatouille, which for some reason I have avoided like the plague since I was little.
I use what I can of my garden’s bounty, but with zucchini, the result is often excess, and I foist them on others. Some people are grateful, although I’ve heard tales of stuffing zucchini into neighbors’ mailboxes or stealthily placing them by their front door at night to get rid of them. But they are not like tomatoes, which friends and family will accept in abundance, and I am sometimes left with more than I can handle. As a result, I am always on the lookout for new zucchini-based dishes.
Last summer my social media feeds were filled with an idea I had to try, scarpaccia, a savory Italian zucchini-filled crustless tart. It was thin and crisp, somewhere between a lean slice of pizza and a fat cracker, the zucchini appearing hidden without a hint of the slipperiness that makes it so often unpalatable. The Tuscan treat looked delicious. The only problem was that to prepare it I had to turn on the oven in the heat of the summer. I hesitated.
I avoided it last year, procrastinating until my plants had died and the flow of zucchini had ebbed to nil. But I vowed to try scarpaccia this summer should the flood gates open, as they so often do. And when I had more than enough zucchini, I gave it a shot, plucking parts I liked from different recipes scattered across the internet.
The result was great. Simple to prepare, although not quick, it tasted as good as the photos let on. It was crunchy on the bottom with a little chew inside where the zucchini was substantially hidden by the sweetness of cooked onions, the earthiness of rosemary, and the savoriness of a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese. While I thought it was delicious on its own, not needing any embellishments, my son Jacob wanted a bit of red sauce in which to dip it and told me later it benefited greatly from the salty bite of feta he showered over the top.
Whether served on its own or adorned with extras, this zucchini scarpaccia was a success. It is a perfect appetizer for a summer party and an excellent way to reduce the zucchini backlog, as long as you don’t mind the heat of the kitchen.
Zucchini Scarpaccia
There is an inherent dilemma in making scarpaccia: zucchini is mostly water (hence its frequently unpleasant texture) but the resulting tart should be crispy. To solve this problem, it is essential to salt the vegetables and place a heavy weight on them, forcing out the liquid, which changes the zucchini’s texture. This is an essential step that should not be skipped.
Versions of scarpaccia are as varied as the number of cooks in Italy. Some versions include garlic and potatoes, while others call for additional vegetables. I used rosemary, but other hearty herbs, such as thyme, would work just as well. To make it vegan swap out the Parmesan for nutritional yeast, which has a similar salty, umami flavor profile. No matter what you do, it will be delicious.
makes one 18 by 13-inch tart, about 3 hours, mostly unattended
3 medium zucchinis
1 medium onion
2 tsp. kosher salt, divided
1 tsp. fresh ground black pepper, divided
1½ cups all-purpose flour
¾ cups, plus 3 Tbsp. cornmeal
5 Tbsp. olive oil, divided
¾ cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, divided
1 – 2 Tbsp. rosemary, finely minced
- Slice zucchini and onions into rounds as thin as possible, preferably using a mandoline. Place in a large bowl, sprinkle with 1½ teaspoons of kosher salt and ½ teaspoon black pepper, and massage gently with hands for about five minutes until soft and the liquid starts to come out. Place mixture in a colander and place colander in the bowl to catch the extruded liquid. Cover with a plate or another bowl and place a weight on top to press water out of zucchini. Set aside for about two hours.
- After two hours, preheat oven to 400 oF.
- Mix flour, ¾ cups cornmeal, and remaining ½ teaspoon each of kosher salt and black pepper in a large bowl. Add one tablespoon of olive oil to collected zucchini liquid and stir into flour-cornstarch mixture. Add additional water to make a thicker than normal pancake batter-like consistency. Add zucchini and half the grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese and stir to combine.
- Cover a half sheet pan with parchment paper and coat with two tablespoons of olive oil. Pour batter on top and spread out across sheet pan to an even thickness. Place another piece of parchment paper over the top and press mixture into pan with the palms of your hands to flatten. Remove and discard top piece of parchment paper.
- Sprinkle an additional 3 tablespoons of cornmeal, remaining Parmigiano Reggiano, rosemary, and 2 tablespoons of olive oil over the top of tart.
- Place on bottom rack of preheated oven and bake until crisp, dry, and lightly brown on top, about 45 minutes, rotating and shifting position in oven as needed. If the bottom appears to be cooking too fast, shift to top rack of oven where the top will brown more quickly.
- Remove from oven and cool in pan before slicing and serving slightly warm or at room temperature.
