Hi everyone, Jess here with some simple variations for those yummy early zucchinis!
Our Friday pizza night moved to Monday, as some fresh zucchini was a great pizza topper. The kids were a bit iffy about the zucchini, as it’s one of those seasonal veggies that they forgot that they’ve already tried and loved. The thought of zucchini pizza was not appealing to them tonight, either (even through they’ve had it before, sheesh). I was picking my battles this evening, so I made them a plain pizza and whipped up some zucchini fries while the oven was hot.
After all, two years ago, when I made them this version of panko and parmesan crusted zucchini fries, they loved them!
The smaller zucchinis make perfect fries as you don’t have to go through all the trouble of de-seeding as the seeds are so tiny! There are many variations here, I’ll mention a few that I’ve tried. After cutting the zucchini into little spears, I dipped them in melted Amish roll butter before rolling them in a combo of panko or breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese. If you’re watching the butter thing egg/egg white is a great substitute, too! Want to keep them vegan? Try a little olive oil and nutritional yeast! Whatever you choose, dip your zucchini sticks into your wet mix, then roll in your dry mix before placing on your lined cookie sheet (parchment paper or foil works). Bake at 425 for about 15-20 minutes, flipping halfway through if you like them a bit crispier (the water content of a zucchini makes them not quite a sturdy as a french fry, but they are still yummy!
Serve with tomato sauce, a garlicky pesto mixed with sour cream or Greek yogurt, or whatever tickles your fancy! My kids went with ketchup, but hey, at least they re-tried zucchini!
That’s about it for me this evening. What are you up to with your share? I’d love to hear from you! In the meantime, sweet and savory dreams!