Recipe below: Zucchini Gratin with Thyme and Goat Cheese
It seems a lot of people need help with zucchini, mostly with how to change it up from the usual pan sauté. I know I do, so when I come up with a good recipe, I want to share it with you. And if you’re growing zucchini and now have tons of it coming in all at once, you really do need help.
This is an easy gratin, but it looks kind of fancy. Good for a dinner party. I served it with huge grilled shrimp marinated in marjoram, garlic, and lemon, a nice fit but I could imagine grilled lamb or chicken kebabs just as easily. I’m thinking the grill texture and flavor would juxtapose nicely with the gentleness of the gratin.
Happy summer cooking to you.
Zucchi Gratin with Thyme and Goat Cheese
10 medium zucchini (they will shrink up), cut into rounds
1 shallot, thinly sliced
Extra-virgin olive oil
Salt
Black pepper
1 small log (4 ounces) fresh, soft goat cheese, at room temperature
½ cup crème fraîche, at room temperature
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 small summer garlic clove, chopped
Possibly a little milk
12 big sprigs fresh thyme, lightly chopped but with flowers if it has them
¾ cup grated grana Padano cheese
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
Oil a large sheet pan. Lay the zucchini out on it in more or less one layer (a little overlap is fine). Scatter on the shallot, drizzle with olive oil, and season with salt and black pepper. Roast until the zucchini just starts to brown lightly at the edges, about 8 minutes or so. I find this step important for removing excess water from the zucchini. If you skip it, your gratin may wind up quite liquidy.
Put the goat cheese and crème fraîche in a food processor. Add the nutmeg and garlic, and season with salt and black pepper. Give the mixture a few pulses to blend everything. It should be thick but pourable, a bit thicker than heavy cream. If it’s too thick, add a drizzle of milk and pulse again.
Get out baking dish. I used a 11-by-8-inch Le Creuset oval, but anything more or less equivalent will work fine. Oil the inside lightly. Add half of the zucchini, spreading it out. Sprinkle on half the thyme and some grana Padano. Add the rest of the zucchini.
Pour the goat cheese cream evenly over the top, and wait for it to sink into the zucchini a little. Sprinkle on the rest of the grana and the remaining thyme. Bake, uncovered, until it’s bubbly and the top is browned, about 12 to 15 minutes.
Let the gratin cool a few minutes before serving, so it can firm up.
Erica De Mane 
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