Zucchini with Tomato and Ricotta Salata
Note: Four years later: I realized the original post had an error concerning the tomatoes. I changed the recipe. It now calls for halved cherry tomatoes. The photographs do not reflect this. The recipe does, and while the earlier recipe worked, the updated one is an improvement. This is a one-woman show. Bear with me. 10/23/24
This is the time of year when gardeners starting bitching about zucchini. Newspapers and online media everywhere are publishing tranches of recipes devoted to using up the glut.
Not zucchini. Tiny squash from the farmer’s market.
Being but a humble serf on the Internet’s massive estate, I have no special insight into the publishing schedules of media behemoths. Rather, I had a few tomatoes rapidly reaching their past due date, and the zucchini was handy.
As for the ricotta salata, it was an afterthought. Much as I adore cheese, it rarely appears on the table when meat or poultry are being served. This comes from growing up in a Jewish household: we didn’t keep kosher, but milk and meat were never served together. In this case, though, I had the ricotta salata in the house. So…why not?
Ricotta salata is harder and drier than ricotta, with a crumbly texture that stands up to heat. Like its softer cousin, ricotta salata is mildly flavored and pairs well with summer vegetables… like tomatoes and zucchini.
To peel or not to peel? The second most asked question of summer 2021. The answer to both these questions is the same: it depends.* If your zucchini are organic or of otherwise reputable sources, just wash n’ cook. If they look like they were rolled in gravel before reaching your kitchen, well, peel ’em. Common sense. I once thought we had it.
Do take care squeezing your tomatoes into the pan, lest you end up wearing them. Not that I would know a thing about that.
I didn’t take a photo of the shirt. More farmer’s market pix.
Many summer veg dishes are barely cooked. Not so with our zucchini and tomatoes. You want a nice jammy consistency here. Once the zucchini and tomatoes are cooked down, toss in the ricotta salata, taste for seasoning, adding fresh lemon juice liberally. Salt and pepper, of course, and the tiniest bit of hot pepper, when nobody is looking.
I’m the first to admit there’s nothing earth shattering about food like this, which is the best thing about it. Zucchini with tomatoes and ricotta salata is easy to make, it tastes good, and it keeps well. The dish requires neither fancy ingredients nor unusual kitchen equipment. There are no surprises here, which is a relief, given there are surprises everywhere else these days, the majority appalling. This is not a time for novel or difficult food. It is a time to be annoyed by comfortingly prosaic problems: too much zucchini, mushy tomatoes. Unlike the majority of problems facing us today, zucchini gluts and deliquescent tomatoes are humanely scaled, managable. We face these problems yearly, complain half-heartedly, and solve them by cooking. A lot. Because gluts and needing to cook a lot, at bottom, aren’t really problems: they are signs of a bountiful harvest, something most Westerners have little real understanding of, any more than we truly understand not having enough.
Zucchini with Tomatoes and Ricotta Salata Cheese
Preparation time: about ten minutes to prep the vegetables and about fifteen to cook.
Serving size: about 1 pound/454 grams of zucchini/courgette fed two modest eaters with leftovers; this dish is easily scaled upward.
Please read notes, below, about peeling vegetables, making this dish gluten-free/kosher, and discussion of cheese.
I weighed the ingredients when writing the recipe. Do know this is approximate; we aren’t baking a cake here. If your zucchini is a bit heavier or lighter, the recipe will still work.
2 zucchini (courgettes) weighing approximately 1 pound/454 grams
about 8 ounces/227 grams cherry tomatoes, halved
1 ounce/30 gram piece ricotta salata or other firm white cheese
1-2 garlic cloves, crushed, peeled, and minced
salt and pepper
fresh lemon juice, to taste: I used an entire lemon
Olive oil, for the pan
Optional:
hot red pepper flakes
white wine or Vermouth, for the pan
A little butter
sumac, because I love it and add it to everything I can.
a little minced shallot
Instructions
You will need a large frying or sauté pan to make zucchini with tomatoes and ricotta salata. I used a my Calphalon 12 inch/30 cm pan.
Peel your zucchini, if you are peeling them. If not, wash well, and pat dry.
Either way, slice into coins. These should be about the size of a Carr’s Water Biscuit. Thicker is okay. We all know I can’t cut evenly.
Wash and halve the tomatoes.
Prep your garlic.
Set the pan on the burner and add a good two tablespoons olive oil, possibly more. Heat to medium-low. Butter and white wine are optional, but they are a good idea. If you agree, add them now.
Add the zucchini. Add the tomatoes.
Stir the pan contents, then add the garlic. Stir more. Add salt and pepper.
Stir every few minutes to ensure nothing is sticking. If more liquid is needed, you can add water, broth, or wine.
By now the tomatoes should be cooking down. If not, turn up the heat slightly. Once the tomatoes have begun cooking down and the zucchini coins are softening, crumble the cheese over the pan.
Taste for seasoning and add lemon juice accordingly.
Total cooking time is about 15 minutes. If you get interrupted and need to slow down, the heat may be turned down until you can return to cooking.
Serve zucchini and tomato with ricotta salata as a side dish to chicken, pork, or meat dishes. It is also lovely as a vegetarian meal with rice, pasta, couscous, and/or paired with other vegetable dishes. I am not fond of eggplant, but even I can see this matching well with an eggplant dish. It would also sit well alongside a rice dish and a crisp, cool green salad–the contrast would be lovely.
Leftovers may be stored in a covered container, refrigerated, up to four days. Freezing is not recommended.
Reheat in a low oven or the microwave.
Notes:
As discussed in the post, peeling the vegetables is a matter of choice: if your zucchini are organic or of excellent provenance, just wash well. I also use the whole vegetable. If you are in doubt, peel.
Cheese is optional; if you keep kosher, are vegetarian/vegan/celiac, simply omit it and use more lemon juice or a cheese product suitable to your dietary needs.
When tomatoes aren’t in season, you can make this dish using a tablespoon of best quality tomato paste or about 6 ounces/170ml best canned whole tomatoes.
*the first question: to mask or not to mask.
