High Summer Stuffed Zucchini

This is one of our favorite summer dishes- the kind that makes you wish for August all year round.  The squash look beautiful coming out of the oven and taste even better thanks to the lovely combination of garden tomatoes, fresh basil and ricotta cheese.  We've served this recipe in its original vegetarian rendition as taken from Verdura, Vegetables Italian Style and with the addition of roasted chicken as in our adapted recipe below.  We can say with certainty that the rendition with roasted chicken is preferred at our community table. 

This is definitely one meal where it pays to know a farmer or a few avid gardeners.  It can be tough to score 10 monster zucchini in the city, but if you ask around at the farmer's market, you may find someone willing to save his or her mongo zukes for you.  In our case, Vikki the Farmer at Genesis Growers lavished us with 20 lbs of beautiful zucchini and yellow summer squash and we're extremely thankful!  (If you're looking for a great CSA program [i.e. a weekly box of farm-fresh veggies delivered to a drop-site near you in Chicagoland], we highly recommend Vikki's program.)  If you don't run into a windfall of garden zucchini, you can certainly pull this off with squash from the veggie market or even the supermarket.  At this time of the year, Stanley's is usually overflowing with summer squash, some of which are local, and the price is just right.  Smaller squash mean more squash, however, so plan on a bit more prep time for hollowing and scooping. 

This is a longer meal to put together, so it's best to get several hands working on the various steps required for the zucchini right away.  By doing so, the stuffing should be ready just as the zucchini are finished par-baking. You don't want to skimp on oven time, as the dish is infinitely better when the zucchini have cooked long enough to be fork-tender.  We serve this with a light appetizer and a hearty BLT salad  just to be sure there's enough heft in the meal for larger eaters.  Sided with chilled melon and ice cold lemonade... mmm, mmm, only in August.

TOMATO BRUSCHETTA WITH PITA CHIPS

(Serves 36 as a light appetizer)

• 10 loves of 6" round pita bread (about 2 lbs), (we like Sanabel Bakery's fresh pita bread available at their grocery in Albany Park or sold at Stanley's)
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil, divided
• 8 oz Parmesan cheese, grated
• 3 lbs garden tomatoes
• 2 cups fresh basil leaves, cut into thin strips
• 1/2 cup Greek or green olives, roughly chopped
• Sea salt and freshly grated pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 

Arrange the pita loaves on a large sheet pan.  Using a basting brush and half the olive oil, brush the top and undersides of all the loaves. Transfer loaves to a cutting board and cut into 1" thick strips, cutting the longest strips in half to make chip-sized pieces.  Return the chips to the sheet pan, toss with the Parmesan cheese and season generously with sea salt and freshly grated pepper.  Bake the chips for 10-15 minutes until lightly browned and crispy.

While the pita chips are baking, dice the tomatoes into (small) bite sized pieces.  Transfer the tomatoes to a small mixing bowl, toss with the chopped basil and chopped olives, and season generously with sea salt and freshly grated pepper.  Pour the remaining olive oil over the tomatoes and allow to sit for a few minutes before serving.

To serve, plate the pita chips in a large serving bowl or platter and place the tomato mixture alongside. Serve each guest a handful of chips and top with a generous scoop of tomatoes. 

HIGH-SUMMER STUFFED ZUCCHINI

(Serves 36 generously)

• 20 medium zucchini OR 10 HUGE garden zucchini (about 20 lbs of zucchini in either case)
• 1 generous loaf (about 1-1/2 lbs) of day-old bakery bread (we like Trader Joe's Asiago-Peppercorn)
• scant 2 cups whole milk
• 5 eggs, lightly beaten
• 3 lbs ricotta cheese (cottage cheese will also work in a pinch)
• 8 oz Parmesan cheese
• 3 lbs roasted chicken meat pulled from rotisserie birds 
• 1 cup extra virgin olive oil, divided into 1/4ths
• 1/2 cup freshly-squeezed lemon juice (about 4-5 lemons)
• 5 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 3 cups basil leaves, sliced into thin ribbons
• Sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
• 2-3 lbs garden tomatoes, roughly chopped for garnish

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Preheat flattop grill to med-high heat.

Halve the zucchini lengthwise and scoop out the pulp to make shallow boats.  Reserve the pulp in a large mixing bowl.  Place zucchini halves cut-side up on large sheet pans.  Using a basting brush and 1/4 cup of olive oil, lightly brush the cut side of each zucchini with oil and season generously with salt and pepper.  Transfer zucchini to hot oven and roast for 20+ minutes while stuffing is being prepared.  (The larger the zucchini, the longer you can let them roast at this point.  The idea is to par-bake them until just softened before stuffing them.)  Remove from oven when squash has just begun to lightly brown.

While zucchini are roasting, roughly chop the reserved pulp.  Heat 1/4 cup olive oil on the flattop grill until just shimmery, being careful not to overheat.  Saute zucchini pulp until juices are released and pulp has been cooked through.  Add garlic and saute for 2-3 more minutes.  Return mixture to original bowl and allow to rest.

Cube the bread into 1-inch dice and place cubes in a small bowl.  Douse the bread with milk until just saturated (not soggy). Season the mixture generously with salt and pepper and set aside.

In a separate large mixing bowl, add beaten eggs, ricotta, Parmesan, 1/4 cup olive oil, lemon juice, and basil. Season generously with salt and pepper and mix thoroughly. Add the bread, the sauteed zucchini and the pulled chicken meat to the bowl and gently mix to combine.

Remove zucchini halves from oven.  Generously stuff the cavity of each zucchini, mounding slightly, cover pans tightly with foil and return to oven.  (Bake any extra stuffing in separate pan alongside the zucchini). Bake zucchini for 15-20 minutes, remove foil, and bake for an additional 5-7 minutes until stuffing is crusty and lightly browned.  Note that cooking time will vary significantly depending on your oven.  The times given above are for a commercial convection oven.  If using a conventional oven, plan to roughly double the cooking times.

While stuffed zucchini are roasting, roughly chop the fresh tomatoes, place in a mixing bowl and season generously with salt, pepper and the last remaining olive oil.   Set mixture aside to garnish zucchini.

To serve, place one halved, stuffed zucchini on each individual plate and garnish with fresh tomatoes.  If you used huge garden zucchini, cut each horizontal half into two portions and place each portion on an individual plate, garnishing as described above.  Serve immediately.

BLT SALAD

Serves 36

• 4 full heads of Romaine or 6 hearts of Romaine, sliced into 1/2" thin strips
• 24 oz good-quality, thick-cut, nitrate-free bacon (we like Trader Joe's applewood smoked bacon)
• 4 lbs garden tomatoes
• 16 oz blue cheese dressing
• 8 oz wedge of blue cheese
• sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Pre-heat oven to 375 degees. 

Slice romaine hearts perpendicular to the leaves to get 1/2" thin ribbons.  Soak chopped lettuce in cool water until well washed and shake dry in a colander (or spin dry in a lettuce spinner).  Slice tomatoes into thin wedges and drain off excess seeds and juice.  Break blue cheese into small crumbles and set aside.

Arrange bacon slices on a sheet pan with plenty of space between slices.  When oven is warm, cook bacon until just underdone.  Remove pan from oven and carefully pour off rendered bacon fat into a heat-safe bowl.  Return pan to oven and cook until bacon is very crisp, being careful not to burn.  Remove bacon from pan and allow to rest on paper towel until cool to the touch.  Once cooled, break or roughly chop bacon into bite sized pieces.

About ten minutes before serving, toss lettuce with tomatoes, dressing and crumbled cheese.  Season well with sea salt and freshly ground pepper.   Just before serving, top salad with crumbled bacon, reserving a serving or two of salad as required for those who don't eat pork. Serve immediately.