What To Do with All That Zucchini

     All this bounty of the season has us eating our vegetables! The curse of the zucchini is upon us and we've been turning them into delicious meals. One of my favorite recipes comes from my grandmother's Italian kitchen and the other recipe is from a neighbor way back in our New York days. If you like Ratatouille, then you will like the Stewed Zucchini recipe. It's a bit simpler than Ratatouille, very quick to make, and generously flavored with Italian herbs. My mother and grandmother would break two eggs and scramble them up into the pot at the very end. As a child, the egg bits troubled me and I haven't gotten over that, so I leave those out. The other recipe for Italian Zucchini Crescent Pie was shared by a neighbor who grew a huge garden and loved to cook. This is the part of sharing recipes that I like, you will always think of that person when you make their recipe. At least I do. This on uses refrigerated crescent dough for the crust, at which the editors of Bon Apetit would probably shudder. But I like the texture and saltiness of this crust, so I never substitute for it.

                                               Italian Zucchini Crescent Pie

4 c. zucchini, thinly sliced

1 c. onion, chopped

½ c. butter or margarine

½ c. parsley, chopped or 2 Tbl. parsley flakes

½ tea. salt

½ tea. pepper

¼ tea. garlic powder

¼ tea. basil

¼ tea. oregano

2 eggs, beaten

2 c. (8 oz.) mozzarella, shredded or Muenster, shredded

1 pkg. crescent rolls

2 tea. mustard

 In hot butter, cook and stir zucchini and onion for 10 minutes. Stir in parsley, salt, pepper, garlic, basil and oregano. Combine beaten eggs and mozzarella. Stir into zucchini mixture.

Separate 8 oz. can crescent rolls into 8 triangles. Place in ungreased 9” pie pan; press over bottom and up sides to form crust. Spread crust with 2 teaspoons mustard. Pour vegetable mixture onto crust.

Bake in 375 F. oven for 18-20 minutes or until center is set. (Cover crust with foil during last 10 minutes of baking.) Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Stewed Zucchini 
   

1 large zucchini, cubed (1”thick slices, quartered)
½ large onion, chopped
¼ c. celery leaves, chopped
1 large (32 oz.) can plum tomatoes (or 3 large, fresh tomatoes, peeled, quartered and liquid squeezed off)
Salt, pepper and basil to taste
2 eggs, if desired
Parmesan for topping
Crusty bread for serving.

Pour olive oil in pan to thinly cover bottom. Add onions for 1-2 minutes, then add all other ingredients. Cover and simmer just until zucchini is done, about 20- 30 minutes.
Grandmother would whisk eggs and pour into simmering liquid and cook until eggs were set.