This is an Italian tart that is mostly made from zucchini. I was curious to try it out because it’s a cooking method I’ve never heard of before: you salt a bunch of sliced zucchini and onion, then put something heavy on top of it to press the water out. Later, you remove the veggies, make a batter using the brine, and then mix it all together and bake it in a sheet pan. None of these were thing I’d really thought of doing before, so I wanted to give it a shot.
I can report that it was a definite success. The flavor of the zucchini still comes through after cooking, and…it’s just great. You can easily make it vegan if you leave off the dairy and substitute water for milk. And do whatever it is vegans do to avoid eggs, I actually have no idea. You could probably make it gluten free with almond flour or something, I haven’t really looked into that much. A great summer dish.
In order to get the right texture in the tart, you’re going to want to slice the vegetables really really thin. A mandolin is probably your friend here; I set mine as thin as it would go and shaved off really great slices. You can do it with a knife, it’ll just be time consuming.
Oh, and it has to sit for a few hours while the vegetables sweat, so just bear that in mind. If you’re looking at this recipe right now and it’s a half hour to dinner, move on to something else. That being said, it is surprisingly easy to put together.
Ingredients
3 zucchini (about two pounds, better to go over than under here), sliced as thin as you can
1 red onion, also sliced as thin as you can
2 tsp kosher salt
1 cup sun dried tomatoes, chopped
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs
1 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried paprika
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
Directions
Take your sliced zucchini and onion, and put them in a bowl with the salt. Massage them with your hands to work the salt in, and then find some way to press it down to get more of the water out. I used a second bowl with a big cast iron pan on top. Walk away and let it sweat for at least two hours.
When. you’re ready to cook, grease a rimmed baking sheet and preheat your oven to 400.
Once the vegetables are good and dehydrated, working in small batches, remove the vegetables from the brine. As you do, squeeze them really well to wring out as much of the water as you can, and then place them in another bowl, so that when you’re done, you have a bowl of brine, and a bowl of wilted vegetables. If you have cheesecloth, that works great for squeezing out the brine.
Add the flour, cornmeal, eggs, milk, garlic, and spices to the brine and whisk together to form a batter. You want to end up with a consistency something like thin pancake batter; if it’s too thin, add flour and cornmeal in a 2:1 ratio until you get it where you want it.
Fold the tomatoes, parmesan, zucchini, and onion into the batter and mix thoroughly until everything is combined and you can see the vegetable pieces are well coated. Pour it into your baking sheet and use a spoon to level it out.
Bake for 45 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown and the center has set (might take up to an hour, depending on your batter and your oven). It’s great on it’s own, or you can top it with fresh mozzarella, basil pesto, olives, or whatever else you want.
eatbensmeat 