Last week I shared a few of my party planning ideas and in the process promised a few simple yet elegant recipes for your party table. This week I am making good on that promise using the perfect little zucchini at the Petaluma Farmers Market. I resisted the urge to slice them up into paper thin pieces for Clotilde Dusoulier’s zucchini carpaccio as I usually do, instead whipping up a light herbal marinade for these gorgeous zucchini.
The technique I employ here is very simple and one I’ve used often when making certain types of achar. You simply prepare the vegetables and herbs in a bowl, heat up the vinegar solution on the stove, combine and marinate. This ensures the vegetable doesn’t just turn into a soggy, soppy mess. There is nothing worse that turning a beautiful zucchini to mush.
One of the great things about this recipe is its versatility. The solution can be drained off, perhaps a bit of cheese added and the zucchini can served as a salad. You can chop up a few pieces and toss them with pasta, use a slice to garnish a Bloody Mary, or even for an elegant wrapping for sea scallops. One of my favorite uses is as a topper for toasted baguette with a well seasoned ricotta.
Herb Marinated Zucchini
4-6 Small Zucchini, sliced into long, thin strips
1 Red Bell Pepper, roasted, skin removed and sliced into thin strips
1 large handful Fresh Flat Leaf Parsley, roughly chopped
1 Handful Fresh Basil, roughly chopped
1 -2 Garlic Cloves, minced or grated
1/2 to 1 tsp Coarsely Ground Pepper
3/4 cup Water
3/4 cup Rice Wine Vinegar
1 tsp Sea Salt
Spread the prepared zucchini, red pepper, parsley, basil, garlic and pepper out in a wide baking dish.
In a sauce pan combine the water, vinegar and salt then bring to a boil. You may want to turn on the fan if you’d care to avoid the fumes. When the solution has been brought to a boil, pour it over the veggies very carefully, to avoid splashes and burns. Make sure the vinegar solution hits all of the zucchini. Cover the dish and allow to cool before placing in the refrigerator overnight. Enjoy!
This recipe is intended to be consumed within a week.
Note: You can use pre-roasted red peppers, but I urge you not to. The texture is usually soggy and for this recipe you want to be sure they stay structurally sound. Also, the solution they are stored in will interfere with the overall quality of the dish, clouding not only the herbs, but the true flavor of the vegetables themselves. That is also the reason I have added water to the dish, I don’t want the vinegar to take center stage, but to be a supporting actor.
For topping a toasted baguette: slice a strip of zucchini in half through the width. Toast baguette slices and spread with ricotta mixed with parsley, basil garlic and seasonings then top with two sliced of zucchini in a little X.
I am totally intrigued by the use of this as a bloody mary garnish! I typically opt for pickled okra or pickled asparagus, but I bet this would be great
Jen, I am always looking for something new to garnish a bloody mary, the old celery stalk just doesn’t do it visually for me. You could skewer the zucchini for the garnish or just slice the zucchini into long slender sticks before marinating. Have you ever used wasabi in your bloody mary? It is fantastic!
This would make an awesome Bloody Mary garnish, what a great idea.
Thanks Alan, For some reason I have become more beverage minded as of late.
I’ve never roasted peppers. Do you have any advice for a novice?
Denise, My advice varies depending on what kind of stove you have. For gas, you can simply place the pepper over the flame, carefully and with tongs of course and allow it to blacken on all sides in the flame. You can also broil or grill the pepper, on all sides until blackened. Occasionally I will blacken it in a pan on the stove, but it can be really uneven and the pepper should be cut into four large chunks first. That is usually my lazy alternative, that I really should not be admitting to.
When you have blackened your pepper, I recommend placing it (or them) in a glass bowl and place a plate over the top to allow the skin to loosen further by trapping the leftover warmth from the roasting process. Some recommend using plastic wrap or paper bags, but this way is far less wasteful and works just the same.
When the peppers have cooled, remove the blackened skin with a spoon or back of your knife, before slicing open to de-seed.
I highly recommend you roast your own peppers, it is incredibly simple and the flavor is far superior to those in a jar. I love this time of year because of it!
Thank you so much! I have a gas stove and will experiment this week.
Mmmmmmm!
Sounds delicious and I’m picking zucchini about every other day. So I’m looking for new things to do with them.
I really love seasoned rice vinegar. Another new favorite is the pomegranate vinegar that Whole Foods is carrying. It’s so light and balanced sometimes I just sip it — yes, I am weird but for some reason wine hardly interests me at all but vinegar cleans my clock.
You might also ask Donna — now that you’re practically neighbors ;> — where she got the Katz Sauvignon Blanc vinegar. That stuff is nothing short of awesome and would play real nice tossed with fresh picked veggies. One of the things I’ve done with it is seed small tender zukes, salt them and let them sit upside down to give up their juices. Then I pat them dry and shred them so I can toss them with a really balanced, flavorful vinegar and some olive oil.
I’ve you’re finding a lot of them, you might try preparing
You’re welcome Denise!
Thanks Rainey. It’s funny you mention Katz, I was just reading about them a few days ago. I’ll have to give them a try!
Weird? No, a food lover!
I will be adding this to my small but growing mezze arsenal. And I agree about roasting your own peppers; I’m always amazed how simple but delicious they are.
Yum… I am not a huge zucchini person, but preparing it this way looks delicious!
Les, You always serve the best snacks. I hope you like this!
Ashlea, I hope this changes your mind. Thanks for your comment and welcome to The Endive Chronicles!
This is great at any time, but worked very well as picinic food.