Recipe: Zucchine al Forno

Zucchine al Forno

Baked Zucchini

This is from the Spannocchia Cookbook with recipes by a master chef, Loredana Betti.  Last year Karen Score and I led the Tuscany Retreat and based our group at Spannocchia for a week. It was a true gift to be able to experience Loredana’s incredible cooking first hand.  She worked her magic alongside the talented and hard-working staff of this 800-year-old estate, and each day we found ourselves increasingly well-nourished, grounded, relaxed, and happy.  (And, many folks LOST weight!)

This recipe has become one of the most popular and beloved dishes of our pandemic summer. The zucchini is meltingly baked and caramelized with the garlic and parsley turning it into the best kind of summer comfort food.  Everyone here adores it.   Although it would be delicious without the cheese, the addition of parmesan allows it to take the center stage as a light main dish. It’s great warm and fabulous at room temperature.  Like most Tuscan food, it’s delicious partly because of the quality of the ingredients: use the best quality olive oil and good parmesan cheese.

6 zucchini

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 tbsp parsley, chopped

1 clove garlic, chopped

1/4 cup parmesan cheese 

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F

Cut the zucchini into slices of about 2 inches long.  Put the zucchini into an oven-safe pan with olive oil, parsley, garlic, salt, and pepper.  Mix together to coat the zucchini pieces well.  

Put into the oven to cook for an hour.  (Honestly, I sometimes leave it for an hour and 15 min or an hour and a half.).  Remove it from the oven when the zucchini is very tender, sprinkle with parmesan cheese and serve.