Zucchini Gratin and Menu Planning

Well here we are, the last Friday of my summer. Geez did this go by fast! I have so many things I need to figure out. Joe mentioned “menu planning” yesterday and I thought that was such a fabulous idea. We have a bad habit of going to the store almost every day and making whatever the Food Network tells us to, our freezer is either overflowing or something goes bad.

So there I go shuffling through all the frozen protein we have stocked away in the freezer. I figured we should make a menu of things we have on hand, obviously and go from there. Well..it barely made a dent.

Here’s what I came up with for the week:

1) Yogurt marinated chicken with curry and garlic and side of arugula salad (that neighbors just gave us…perfect!)

2) Pasta with tomatoes and scallops.

3) Grilled Pizza with Zucchini. Can you believe we have more zucchini! I’m thinking of ways to use them up!

4) Veal Picatta with sauteed zucchini.

5) Crock Pot Mexi-Style Chicken: This will end up on Monday, Joe will be working all day and I will be at school…so I am dusting off the crock pot!

6) Leftover chicken: make into enchiladas or bowls, etc.

So this is as far as I’ve gotten. How does this look? And I barely dented our fridge let alone our cubbards! And now that school is starting I have a LOT more planning to do. New schedules, school lunches, workouts and of course blogging.

Now let’s get back to why we’re all here….food! I have probably just made something perfectly healthy into something so incredibly indulgent. And I’m OK with that. Zucchini gratin is what’s going on today, the last of that huge 4lb zucchini I was talking about earlier.

The funny thing is I was going to give a batch to my wonderful neighbors who gifted us with the gourd, but being my klutzy self..I left the leftovers out overnight and had to chuck it in the garbage. I shed a tear.

However, the few servings I did manage to serve up for dinner were succulent. Rich but not heavy and earthy from the zucchini. I liked the combined textures of the crunchy topping with the gooey cheese. I will be making this again.

Method:

1) Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. In a large saute pan, melt butter and onions over low heat for about 20 minutes until tender but not browned. Add zucchini and cook, covered for another 10 minutes or so, until tender. Add salt, pepper, nutmeg and cook uncovered for a few more minutes to evaporate liquid.

2) Add flour and stir to coat. Add hot milk and cook over low heat for a few minutes until it gets a little thicker. Pour mixture into a baking dish.

3) In a separate bowl, combine bread crumbs and Gruyere cheese and sprinkle on top of zucchini mixture. Top with small dots of butter. Bake for 20 minutes or until brown and bubbly.

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Zucchini Gratin and Menu Planning

Recipe inspired by Ina Garten

Author: Samantha Ferraro

Ingredients

• 6 tablespoons 3/4 stick unsalted butter, + extra for topping
• 1/2 onion sliced
• 2 pounds zucchini sliced thin
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 2 Tb flour
• 1 cup hot milk
• 1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup grated Gruyere
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

• Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. In a large saute pan, melt butter and onions over low heat for about 20 minutes until tender but not browned. Add zucchini and cook, covered for another 10 minutes or so, until tender. Add salt, pepper, nutmeg and cook uncovered for a few more minutes to evaporate liquid.
• Add flour and stir to coat. Add hot milk and cook over low heat for a few minutes until it gets a little thicker. Pour mixture into a baking dish.
• In a separate bowl, combine bread crumbs and Gruyere cheese and sprinkle on top of zucchini mixture. Top with small dots of butter. Bake for 20 minutes or until brown and bubbly.