Cooks and gardeners poke fun at zucchini all season long, but the summer squash deserves respect. Few fruits and vegetables are able to move between sweet and savory genres with such ease. Need a quick side? Slice it or dice it, drizzle with olive oil, breadcrumbs and Parmesan and pop it in the air fryer or sauté pan.
Want a low-carb substitute for pasta? Zoodles it is. Planning a special dinner? Zucchini can be a sturdy vessel for all manner of fillings from a variety of global cuisines. Its presence in baked goods is equally prolific.
On the sweet side, zucchini breads and muffins are suitable for breakfast, and it also pairs well with chocolate, resulting in top-tier cakes for dessert. Its friendly flavor can accompany carrots in a carrot cake, and is equally at home in cookies. (If you’re baking for picky eaters, just peel away the green.
) We all have our favorite ways to enjoy this summer mainstay. But just as there’s always more zucchini, there are always more recipes to try. A new crop of cookbooks takes us through Ireland, Italy, Greece and around the Mediterranean, giving us a savory zucchini bread, zucchini cacio e pepe, fritters and spiced wild rice stuffing.
They also give us the excuse to call zucchinis courgettes, which sounds a lot fancier when you’re leaving them on a neighbor’s doorstep. Savory Zucchini Bread Makes 1 (9-inch) cake; serves 8 On the Versilia coast in Tuscany, bakers are known for scarpaccia, a simple round zucchini bread. (The word ro.