Yakityak's Roasted Zucchini Spears (Or: what to do with all that zucchini)
I've marked this as great for Rosh Hashanah and Erev Yom Kippur, because as anyone who has been foolish enough to grow their own zucchini knows, by this time of year you're hip deep in zucchini and desperate for ways in which to cook them. I personally dislike sautéd zucchini as the texture is invariably mushy. These spears are very flavorful and you can really knock out a large zucchini excess at a holiday dinner!
Ingredients
- 4 large zucchini (about 4 - 4 ½ lbs)
- ⅓ cup olive oil, divided
- kosher salt & fresh ground black pepper
- 6 - 8 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 cup panko or dried breadcrumbs
- ¾ cup finely chopped herbs (the bulk should be parsley, dill and/or basil, but smaller more pungent herbs work well mixed in)
- zest of 1 lemon
- lemon wedges for serving (I use the zested lemon)
Method
Preheat oven to 450° F.
Line 2 large cookie sheets with parchment.
Quarter each zucchini into spears. If the zucchini are obscenely large, just make spears that are about an inch thick and 8 inches long, and get rid of any mushy or seedy cores by scraping them out with a spoon.
Toss the spears in a large bowl with 3 tblsp of the olive oil, 1 tsp salt, and pepper (amount to your liking).
Arrange the zucchini with one of the cut sides down in a single layer across both sheets. Don't crowd them or they'll steam instead of brown. If your oven is convection, you may use convection bake and have both sheets in the same oven.
Roast for 18 - 20 minutes without flipping or disturbing the spears in any way. The undersides will have browned and they should be tender.
While the spears are roasting, combine the remaining oil, garlic, breadcrumbs, herbs and lemon zest in a bowl with a pinch of salt.
Pull the sheets out so that you can scatter the crumb mixture over the spears, evenly spread.
Either return to the oven for 5 minutes if you have convection, or if not, set to low broil and broil for 2-4 minutes until the crumb mixture is golden brown. Watch closely - it's easy to burn under broil.
Serve with lemon wedges.