Need zucchini help please

[spyrosmom]

First, I can't spell zucchini. How many C's and H's??? So it shall be referred to as Z.

Monday's have become meatless, and we've tried a few different things, along with the standards, and I'm looking to expand.

I've seen recipes where you can substitute long, medium-thick slices of Z for lasagne noodles. I want to do a meatless, noodle-less lasagne. All of the pictures I've seen of the finished product look a little watery at the bottom of the dish, and I've looked at several different versions. How do I get the water out of the Z prior to building the lasagne. I will also probably fix it Sun night, and leave in the fridge, so DH just has to stick it in the oven on Monday.

I'm envisioning yummy layers of Z, spinach/ricotta mixture, broccoli, cauliflower, tomato sauce, and mozzarella cheese. But I don't want a puddle of water at the bottom of the dish. I make a pretty good veggie lasagne w/ noodles, but I want to try noodle-less.

Nan

 

[pjlippert]

Hi Nan!

Back in CA we had an overly productive Z-garden. We'd give away 20lbs each week to the food bank!

I remember using Z for lasagna noodles and yes, it was quite watery. After it was done cooking I would carefully drain some of the juice out by gently tilting the pan- it's a two person job one who tilts one who holds the lasagna in place. Then, I take some papertowels and dab off as much of the remaining moisture as I could.

I wonder if it would help to slice your Z-noodles and wrap them in papertowels and place a heavy book on top- like you do with Tofu?? I've personally never tried that but it might be worth trying it out!

Good luck and Bon Apetit!

Pam

 

[hriacobacci]

I've only used the zucchini "noodles" as spaghetti. I do use eggplant as lasagna sheets though and have never had a problem with watery, but I use a super thick, homemade sauce. Also make sure the spinach (if using frozen) is completely squeezed dry. You might also try baking or pan searing the zucchini sheets first to try to crisp them up?

 

[Jane A]

I've only used the zucchini "noodles" as spaghetti. I do use eggplant as lasagna sheets though and have never had a problem with watery, but I use a super thick, homemade sauce. Also make sure the spinach (if using frozen) is completely squeezed dry. You might also try baking or pan searing the zucchini sheets first to try to crisp them up?

Yeah, I'd try the pan searing idea. They would have a nice caramelized flavor too.

 

[BuffyR]

This post is timely as someone in my office brought in some huge Zucchini and am trying to figure out how to use them. Anyone have a Zucchini bread recipe they want to share? I'm also going to try the lasagne thing. Maybe baking them a bit in the oven might dry them out enough to elminate the watery issue.

 

[Sunshine1528]

What about microwaving a bit to pull some of the water out?

I've also heard that a little salt will help pull the water out (have seen it done with cucs before).

Sometimes I have to do the 'drain' thing with mine when I use too many tomatos in my regular lasagna sauce.

Or . . . a little cornmeal would help absorb some of the water . . .

Just some thoughts - no experience with any of them.

 

[ellesan]

I treat the zucchini like eggplant for something like that:

1. Slice zucchini or eggplant as desired
2. Sprinkle with salt and let sit fo 30 min to help pull out excess water
3. rinse off excess salt and pan "fry" ( I just use sprays of PAM) until excess water is gone
4. Use as desired in layering recipes--use enough to soak up other liquids from the other veggies

Works great!

Also, you could use eggplant as the noodles and then grate the zucchini, pan cook it over medium heat until the water is gone and add it to the sauce.

I just made a great recipe for soup from my vitamix book:

2 cups spinach
1 large zucchini, about 1 inch pieces
1 yellow onion diced
2 cloves garlic, diced
1 package silken tofu
1 package extra firm tofu
2 cups veggie broth
salt, pepper and herbs of choice

Sautee onion and garlic, then add zucchini and spinach until everything is lightly browned and spinach has wilted. Season as desired, I added flat leaf parsley and fresh basil, salt and pepper. Add this mix to the blender along with the broth and silken tofu. Blend until creamy.

Cut the extra firm tofu in desired size (I like diced about 1/2 inch pieces) and pan fry (again I used PAM) until lightly brown on the outside, season as desired.

Place warm/hot soup in a bowl and top with the firm tofu pieces and enjoy. This was really good!

There are lots of great recipes out there, here's one link with some good ones: http://www.creativehomemaking.com/download/zucchini.pdf

 

[NY25]

I have had this problem myself, as I have a phenomenal zucchini lasagna recipe I love. That recipe calls for blanching the zucchini and then draining on paper towels. However, I've decided I'm switching the approach to grilling. By grilling on a grill pan, the zucchini is up out of any water it gives off in the cooking process. Another thing that could work is to bake the lasagna on of those pans that has the elevated bottom. The water may still collect, but it will be away from the base of the lasagna. I'll keep you posted on how the grilling approach works.