Zucchini Cheese Squares — Blog: Roots and Leaves

There are three zucchini growing on this one plant.

As surely as the sun moves farther south in the sky, zucchini returns in abundance. I plant only one single zucchini plant, but even one can result in an overabundance. People always ask how to preserve zucchini and I tell them, you can preserve zucchini, but why bother? Zucchini pickles will always be mushier than cucumber pickles, frozen zucchini slices are too mushy to even consider eating, and grated frozen zucchini is a good only for zucchini breads and cakes. You can use it to add bulk and moisture, but it won't add anything in the way of flavor and very little in terms of nutrition.

Over the past few years, as I developed recipes using animal fats for my forthcoming book, The Fat Kitchen, I've taken a fresh look at all my favorite recipes and revised any that call for canola oil, which I no longer stock. Olive oil or melted butter works fine as the fat in the recipe below, and keeps it vegetarian. But -- and this should not be a surprise for anyone who is familiar with cooking with it -- duck fat, chicken fat, and bacon fat are all delicious here.

Zucchini Cheese Squares

My kids love these “zucchini pillows.” The texture is softer than a bread and denser than a soufflé, with just the trace of crunch from the onions. It makes a great side dish, especially on a picnic, where the squares can be eaten out of hand. You can use overgrown zucchini here.

3 cups grated zucchini or other summer squash

2 teaspoons fine sea salt

2 cups grated cheddar cheese

1 onion, diced

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves or 1/2 teaspoon dried

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup olive oil or melted and cooled butter or other animal fat (duck fat, chicken fat, goose fat, bacon fat, lard, or tallow).

3 large eggs, beaten

1. Combine the zucchini and salt in a colander and toss to mix. Set aside to drain for 30 minutes. Squeeze out the excess water.

2. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Butter a 7- by 11-inch or 9-inch round baking dish.

3. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour and baking powder. Add the zucchini, cheese, thyme, and pepper. Mix well with a fork, breaking up any clumps of zucchini. In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil or fat and eggs. Pour into the zucchini mixture and mix well. Spread evenly in the baking dish.

4. Bake for about 35 minutes, until golden.

5. Let cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Cut into squares and serve warm or at room temperature.

At first the summer squash trickle in. A nice 6-inch zucchini here, a 3-inch pattypan there. Then all of a sudden, a monster. Such is the way of the summer squash.

The squash is bigger than my 12-inch chef's knife.
At my CSA pickup this week, we were entitled to six items in the summer squash/cucumber bin. There were squash of several varieties: zucchini (of course) in both yellow and gold colors and long and round shapes, a light-skinned Mid-East type, some yellow squash (both straight-neck and crooked), Pattypan (look like flying saucers), and Zephyr (yellow with light green ends). I went straight for the golden and green straight zucchini, because they are the most versatile, lending themselves to easy slicing, julienning, and cutting into spheres. I skip the round zucchini since they are only good for stuffing, while the straight zucchini can work fine for stuffing and everything else. Another time I’ll try the Mid-eastern type to see if the flavor varies.

You’d think with the season just beginning, there wouldn’t be any overgrown summer squash, but, of course, there were a few. Even at a farm, where the gardening is anything but haphazard and careless, those pesky squash can get out of control easily. One rainstorm and there you have it: a monster. It doesn’t help that a healthy plant is big and leafy, fully capable of playing hide and seek, til the squash is overgrown. The plant just wants to produce seeds.

Naturally, there was unlimited access to the overgrown squash. You’d think that after years of growing my own zucchini baseball bats, I’d have had enough. But no, I happen to have a full repertoire of recipes that deal with overgrown zucchini, and I was hankering to make the Zucchini Cheese Squares that I made for Serving Up the Harvest.

The squash I used was an overgrown Zephyr, so the dish lacked the green flecks that usually dominate the color. The eggs I used were free-range guinea fowl eggs, so the color is a bit more golden than usual. Also, for the cheddar, I substituted a mix of Grafton cheddar, Crawford Farm’s Vermont Ayr, and provolone cheese – what I had on hand.

The Zucchini Cheese Squares is ready for the oven.

While happily applying themselves to dinner, my family commented that the title doesn’t do the dish justice. They got no argument from me—but no one came up with a better name. The dish could be called a spoonbread, but most spoonbreads are made with cornmeal and the texture is usually softer. The flour and baking powder rule it out of the frittata category. The eggs aren’t separated, so it isn’t a soufflé. We pondered the problem until it disappeared.

Literally. Not a crumb was left. Let me know if you come up with a better name.

Dinner was Zucchini Cheese Squares, green salad dressed with Ripton House Dressing (see below), plus pickled golden beets, and cantaloupe. If the beets had been purple, the colors of dinner would have been perfect.

Zucchini Cheese Squares

Serves 6 to 8

Zucchini Cheese Squares

2 teaspoons salt

2 cups grated cheddar cheese

1 onion, diced

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves or 1/2 teaspoon dried

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper or lemon pepper

1/2 cup canola oil

3 large eggs, beaten

1. Combine the zucchini and salt in a colander and toss to mix. Set aside to drain for 30 minutes. Squeeze out the excess water.

2. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Butter a 7- by 11-inch or 9-inch round baking dish.

3. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour and baking powder. Add the zucchini, cheese, thyme, and pepper. Mix well with a fork, breaking up any clumps of zucchini. In a small bowl, whisk together the oil and eggs. Pour into the zucchini mixture and mix well. Spread evenly in the baking dish.

4. Bake for about 35 minutes, until golden.

5. Let cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Cut into squares and serve warm or at room temperature.

Zucchini Season Returns!

Zucchini Season is Here!