Zucchini di Parmigiana

Posted 2015-04-27 by Annalisa Brown ⇒ follow

This zucchini dish is a longstanding family favourite. Similar to eggplant parmigiana, the zucchini are first coated in a batter or breadcrumbs, shallow fried and then baked between layers of rich Tomato Salsa and mozzarella cheese. Whenever my brothers and I go back home and visit mum, she will always include this dish as part of “the kids are visiting” repertoire – it’s comfort food at its heartiest.

Many of my contributions are styled on my family’s recipes and this offering is one that falls under this umbrella. However, my reworked is a much healthier version than my mums. In keeping with my healthy and clean eating outlook on food, I chose to bake the zucchini instead of frying them and I crumbled goats cheese fetta instead of using mozzarella as my cheese of choice.

To make this a vegan dish, you can substitute the goats cheese with a vegan approved cheese such as soy or a nut cheese.

As with many dishes that have a tomato base, this tastes equally as delicious the following day and can be either re-heated or eaten cold; which makes this a great make ahead dish for a picnic or for a work or school lunch.

A glutenfree and healthy .

Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 30 minutes
Makes: 2 Main Course Servings

Ingredients
2 Zucchini
2 Tomatoes
1 Teaspoon Oregano
½ Teaspoon Chilli
½ Teaspoon Black Pepper
Handful Fresh Basil Leaves
250ml Tomato Salsa
100g Goats Fetta
25g Parmesan Cheese (Optional)

Method

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C.

Slice the zucchini lengthwise.

Place the sliced zucchini on a baking tray and season with freshly ground black pepper with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

Instead of frying the zucchini, bake or grill the slices with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and some freshly ground black pepper.

Place the seasoned zucchini into the oven and bake or grill for 5 minutes.

Finely dice the tomatoes.

In a medium saucepan add the extra virgin olive oil and when hot add the dice tomatoes, basil, oregano, black pepper and chilli and sauté until the tomatoes have reduced and are soft.

Add the Tomato Salsa to the cooked tomatoes and simmer for 15 minutes or until the salsa is thick and glossy. I use the fresh tomatoes in conjunction with the salsa to create a thicker salsa.

Layer a baking dish with some of the tomato salsa followed by the Goats Fetta and the Zucchini slices. Repeat until all ingredients are used. You should get about 3-4 layers.

After baking or grilling the zucchini slices, layer a baking dish with tomato salsa, goats fetta and the zucchini then repeat until all the zucchini have been used.

Sprinkle a small handful of Parmesan Cheese over the last layer (optional). You can also substitute with Vegan Parmesan.

Place Zucchini into the pre-heated oven and bake for approximately 15 minutes.

This dish can be served either hot or cold and is great as leftovers the following day.