This year we planted only two zucchini plants and boy are they producing. I check the garden just about every day so that I don’t end up with zucchini the size of a baseball bat. So it was music to my ears when Justin said to me the other day, ‘Mom when are you going to make some zucchini parm? You know I love it.’
What?!? He likes zucchini parm? Seriously? He doesn’t like eggplant parm because it’s too ‘mushy’. Chicken parm, in his eyes, is meh. But now, all of a sudden, he LOVES zucchini parm? Great!
Monster zucchini plants.
Like any of the aforementioned parmesan recipes, you need to follow these steps – season, dredge, fry, bake.
I like to get all my ingredients together before I begin cooking. I used a pretty large zucchini – maybe 18″ long and about 3″-4″ in diameter.
Slice the zucchini into rounds about 1/4″ thick. Season with salt and pepper.
Dip each zucchini slice in the egg, then into the bread crumb mix.
Combine equal parts of canola and olive oil in a large saute pan – enough to cover the pan by 1/4″.
Fry in batches – about 2-3 minutes per side. You want them to be lightly golden brown.
In a large casserole – 13″x9″ – spread a scant amount of tomato sauce on the bottom. No more than 1/2 cup. You don’t want it to be soggy.
Top with more sauce, about a cup. Then sprinkle one cup of mozzarella cheese and 1/4 cup of grated parm on top. Bake at 350F for 20-30 minutes until the cheese in golden brown and the sauce is nice and bubbly.
By not frying the zucchini too long and baking until the cheese is just melted, you end up with a zucchini parm that’s not mushy.
Ready to eat!
This will easily serve 6 to 8 as a side dish or 4 to 6 as a main course. I’ve included the recipe below so you can print it out and give it a try.
- 1 large zucchini
- 1½ cups seasoned bread crumbs
- ⅓ cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1 egg plus ¼ cup water, mixed
- 2 cups of marinara sauce
- 1 cup grated mozzarella cheese
- ¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
- canola and/or olive oil
- salt and pepper
- Trim the ends off the zucchini. Cut into ¼" rounds. Season with salt and pepper.
- In a medium sized bowl, combine the bread crumbs and grated parmesan cheese.
- In another bowl, combine the egg and water.
- In a large frying pan, combine equal parts canola and olive oil, to cover the pan about ¼".
- TIP: if you have lots of zucchini, this job will go much faster if you use two frying pans.
- Dip each zucchini round in the egg mixture, coating both sides, then into the bread crumb mixture. Fry until golden brown over medium-high heat - about 2-3 minutes per side. Do not overcook.
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- In an appropriately sized casserole dish, place a half cup of sauce on the bottom of the dish. Place the zucchini on top - up to two layers. Top with about a cup to a cup and a half of sauce.
- Then top with the mozzarella and parmesan cheese.
- Bake, uncovered, until the cheese is golden brown and the sauce is bubbly. This should take 20-30 minutes.