Pear and Zucchini Three Ways

 

In cooking, I am constantly trying to grow and change the way I see food. My feeling is that if you just cook the same thing over and over with no change, the dish looses it’s luster. Instead of the same old soup, deconstruct it. Make that soup into a salad, mixed grill or even a dessert.

I have always been intrigued by how one can make several very different dishes using the same ingredients (aside from one tiny addition), by merely changing the method of preparation and proportion. Take prosciutto and melon for instance, you can wrap prosciutto around the fresh melon, make my crispy melon cups or a melon soup with bits of crispy prosciutto sprinkled liberally over the surface. Caterpillar, cocoon, butterfly.

A few summers ago I started messing around with raw zucchini and found that it’s delicate flavor paired quite happily with pear. Through the addition of chevre, honey an balsamic vinegar a roulade was born. I served the roulade on top of dense, thinly sliced and toasted 12 grain bread for a delicious appetizer.  After making the roulade, the gears in my head began to turn and I imagined all of possibilities, three of which I am going to share with you today.

The first version I am going to share is a light salad that is fresh, quick and simple enough for those busy weeknights. Second is the roulade, a creamier incarnation meant to be served as an appetizer. The roulade is a little more fussy, but not bad and relatively quick to assemble. The third adaptation is a delicate soup that is a true test of the ingredient metamorphosis. This soup awakens your palate to the inherent juiciness of a pear while at the same time letting the zucchini thrive.

I hope you enjoy my recipes and that they inspire you to take a look at an old recipe and create something new, but familiar. If this is something you have already done, I’d love it if you shared your experience with me.

Pear and Zucchini Salad

Splash olive oil

1-2 Shallots, thinly sliced

1 Bosc or red pear, sliced very thin using a mandoline (if you don’t have one that’s okay a knife will be fine)

2 Smallish zucchini, sliced very thin using a mandoline (again,  it’s okay)

1 ounce chevre, crumbled

1 1/2 TBS Honey

1 TBS Balsamic vinegar

Sprinkle of freshly ground pepper

Heat the olive oil in a small saute pan and caramelize the shallots over medium low heat and cool.

In your salad bowl whisk the honey and balsamic vinegar together. Add in the zucchini, pear pepper and shallots. Toss to coat with the dressing. I recommend using your hands for this as the zucchini tends to stick together and this helps ensure proper coverage. Top with the crumbled chevre and serve.

Note: Pears brown like mad, so I recommend giving them a spritz with lemon water.

Zucchini and Pear Roulade

2 smallish zucchini, sliced using a mandoline set to one of the thinner settings, two outer slices eaten for a snack

1/2  Bosc or red pear, sliced on the thinnest mandoline setting

1 TBS olive oil

2 small shallots sliced thinly

4 ounces Chevre, at room temperature

2 TBS Well aged or reduced balsamic vinegar

1 TBS Honey

1/4-1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper

1 loaf incredibly dense 12 grain bread, cut into very thin slices, then halved or quartered and toasted

Heat the olive oil in a small sauce pan and caramelize the shallots over medium low heat and allow to cool. Blend together the chevre, shallots, honey, balsamic, and pepper

On a piece of plastic wrap, lay out your zucchini slices lengthwise in front of you, overlapping them by about halfway. Gently spread most of the cheese mixture over the zucchini, making sure not to disrupt the aligned zucchini and stopping a few inches away from the end furthest from you. Top with the pear, again stopping a few inches away from the end furthest from you. Top with the remaining cheese mixture.

Hold the plastic wrap on the side of the roulade nearest to you and begin to roll your roulade up as tightly as possible. You will need to get your fingers into it. When it is rolled, wrap it tightly with the plastic wrap to ensure it holds it’s shape and refrigerate for a few hours or overnight. The roulade will flatten on one side, but that is easily remedied before serving. Slice and place on top of your little toasts and your ready to dazzle your guests.

Note: The longer it sets, the more water will be released, you may want to pat it down with a towel before serving.

Pear and Zucchini Soup* (my fave)

4 Zucchini, roasted whole until soft (about 20-25 minutes @375F) and cooled

2 Bosc or Red Pears, roasted whole until soft (20 minutes @375F) and cooled

Splash of olive oil

4 to 5 Shallots depending in the size, sliced thinly

1 TBS Honey

1 TBS Aged balsamic vinegar

A sprinkle of freshly ground pepper

1 1/2 cups low sodium chicken stock

Whole Grain bread

Chevre

Heat the olive oil in a small sauce pan and caramelize the shallots over medium low heat.

Cut the ends off the zucchini and remove the core from the pears. Give them a rough chop and add the to the blender and pulse. Add in the shallots, honey, balsamic and half of the stock and blend until very smooth, adding more stock as you go along. Sieve the smooth soup into a pan and simmer, making sure not to boil.

Slice your bread into large croutons, place on a greased baking sheet, top with chevre and broil until the cheese begins to brown. Spoon the soup into a bowl and serve with a chevre crouton either on the side or floating on top.

Note: If you are not up to all the sieving, peel the zucchini and pear before blending. The texture will not be as silky and the color will be different, but it will still make a lovely soup.

You may be wondering why none of these recipes contain salt and the answer is simple. The roulade has a large quantity of chevre which contains salt and I did not feel it required more. You could add a sprinkle to the salad if you wish, but it will release a large quantity of water into the dressing. As for the soup, again add it if you wish, but please try it sans salt at first. I felt the roasting intensified the flavors enough and retained the delicate flavor I was going for.