I first ate this dish, cooked on this approach, on a campsite in Puglia. The prepare dinner was the Scottish husband of a Sicilian surgeon, whereas the frying pan, having misplaced its plastic deal with on a earlier vacation, was moved on and off the small Primus range with surgical forceps. Necessity drove the cooking and the parmigiana di zucchine was made in a single pan over a low flame.
As with aubergine parmigiana, a standard method to put together courgette for parmigiana di zucchine is to dredge the courgette slices in flour, then to deep-fry them. Alternatively, brush the slices with oil and griddle or bake. Fantastic methods each, however neither very best for tenting. Some recipes counsel uncooked courgette as an answer, however the issue with that’s that, no matter how thinly it’s lower, the courgette all the time stays barely uncooked and inexperienced tasting. The reply to all of the above, and one prompt by the surgeon, is to fry the potato-peeler strips of courgette in a small quantity of olive oil earlier than layering – to not prepare dinner or brown them, however merely to fry off the rawness in order that they flip floppy and opaque, additionally tangled, like unravelled ribbons, however simply untangled.
Again to the campsite: as soon as the pan was freed from courgettes, and because the solar set and the mosquitoes and fireflies danced, the tomato sauce was made in the identical frying pan. That, too, was then put aside (in an ice-cream tub) and the courgettes returned to the pan in layers with the sauce, mozzarella and parmesan. That is back-and-forth cooking. One other essential step on this – and in any parmigiana – is to empty the mozzarella for a number of hours earlier than utilizing it, so a few of the milky liquid is misplaced earlier than you rip the cheese into smaller items.
Like its aubergine cousin, and whether or not you might be on a campsite or in a kitchen on a scorching day, courgette parmigiana must relaxation for something from 20 minutes to a couple hours earlier than serving. Not solely does this permit the flavours to settle, but it surely means the juices have time to soak up again into the bake and the cheese to agency up, making it simpler to chop the parmigiana into triangles or squares. Serve this sensible recipe with a inexperienced salad and bread rolls, which may be torn open by those that wish to stuff a slice of parmigiana inside.
Courgette parmigiana in a frying pan
Prep 15 min
Prepare dinner 45 min
Serves 4
4 courgettes
5 tbsp olive oil, plus further for brushing
1 small onion, peeled and really finely diced
400g crushed peeled tomatoes, (both a tin with its juice, or contemporary, peeled and crushed)
Salt
A few sprigs contemporary basil
A pinch of crimson chilli flakes (optionally available)
300g mozzarella, drained for a number of hours and ripped into items
50g parmesan (or grana padano/pecorino), grated
Utilizing a mandoline or potato peeler, shave the courgettes lengthways into strips. In a heavy-based frying pan, heat two tablespoons of olive oil, fry the slices of courgette, in batches, for 30 seconds on both sides to start out the cooking – they are going to tangle up, however don’t fear. As soon as accomplished, transferto a plate and sprinkle with salt.
Again within the pan, heat three extra tablespoons of olive oil, then fry the diced onion till delicate. Add the tomatoes, a pinch of salt, a sprig of basil and some crimson chilli flakes, for those who like, then depart to simmer for about quarter-hour, mashing the tomatoes with the again of a wood spoon to assist break them up, till the sauce is thick and wealthy. Pull the pan off the warmth and tip the sauce right into a bowl.
Rub the pan with a bit extra olive oil and use a 3rd of the courgettes to make a base layer. Cowl that with a 3rd every of the sauce, mozzarella and parmesan, then make one other layer of courgettes. Prime that with one other third of the sauce, mozzarella, parmesan and some basil leaves. To complete, make a closing layer of courgettes, then prime with the remaining sauce, mozzarella and parmesan.
Put the pan again on a medium flame for 2 minutes and pay attention: as soon as you’ll be able to hear the bottom courgettes sizzle, scale back the flame to low, cowl the pan and depart to prepare dinner for 20 minutes. Uncover and lift the flame once more for a couple of minutes to evaporate any extra juices, then depart to sit down for half-hour (and up to a couple hours) earlier than serving.
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