ZUCCHINI & TOMATO SAUCE

Zucchini and Tomato an easy meatless meal

This zucchini and tomato sauce is amazing. You take a couple of vegetables, sauté them in some olive oil with garlic and when served with pasta, rice or noodles you have a meal. It is really that simple. And quick. In a half hour you have dinner ready to serve.

Beware the backyard gardener

More and more of us are trying our hand at gardening vegetables these days and whether you are new to gardening or not, tomatoes and zucchinis are gardening favorites. Why? They are easy to grow and they are very bountiful. Gardeners often reap so many tomatoes and zucchinis that they can’t use them all, so they generously share with family, neighbors and friends. But, before the season is over the generous gardener often runs out of people willing to take their excess zucchinis and tomatoes. Some go to great lengths to rid themselves of excess produce.

This could happen to you

A gardener friend, or even acquaintance of yours, has just stopped over for an unexpected visit. They have done their best to disguise a bag of tomatoes and zucchinis. When your visitor leaves, somehow the bag gets left behind. 🙄 Yes, you are the victim of a gardener ditching produce! 🤭

While wondering what you are going to do with the discarded bounty, hopefully you will remember this recipe. It is perfect for a summer lunch, brunch or dinner. It is light and fresh.

Even if you have to pay for tomatoes and zucchini, this recipe is worth a try.

An all vegetable meal

I would not be considered a vegetable lover but I know their importance in healthy eating, so I am always glad to find a vegetable dish that I really like. And I really like this recipe. I especially like the use of fresh plum tomatoes for the tomato sauce instead of canned. Watching them melt down into a sauce, brings me a sense of accomplishment.

Why try this recipe?

This recipe checks all the boxes. There are only 2 main ingredients that you can get anywhere anytime. It’s meatless and affordable. Your dinner is done in a half hour and there’s not a lot of clean up. What else could you ask for?

Here’s what YOU WILL NEED:

Great with grated parmesan

Grated parmesan cheese is a perfect addition to this dinner recipe when served. Because the flavors in the sauce are so mild, the salty richness of fresh cheese shines through. Freshly grated from a block of cheese is always the best when you are adding it right at the table, but refrigerated grated or shredded cheese is second best.

This is WHAT TO DO:

Wash the tomatoes and the zucchini

Wash the plum tomatoes and zucchini before chopping. We are using them with the skin on for this recipe. Without washing, what is on the skin is going to be in your sauce. We have written a post: Wash Before You Eat. In summary it reminds us that the vegetables we spoon onto our dinner plates have traveled a long and germ ridden journey before they got to your grocery cart. Rinse them well in warm water and wipe them off. It’s easy enough.

Chop

Chopping the zucchini

Here are a few tips about chopping the zucchini for this recipe. The same method can be used to cut any vegetable that is round. It will make the task of peeling, slicing or chopping much easier.

First cut the bottom off and the stem end. Because one end is thicker than the other on my zucchini, I made another cut between the thinner and thicker ends. Now you have a flat surface to place on the cutting board when you cut it down the middle from top to bottom. You don’t want the vegetable rolling around while you are trying to cut it. Then just cut your slices from the cut quarters. The thinner part I will cut in thicker slices than the fatter end to try to get them as close in size as possible so all pieces are done at the same time.

Like so many of Ricky’s dinner recipes, when the chopping is done, so is most of the work.

Time to cook

Time your pasta

Get your pasta water started on the stove, salt it and bring it to a boil. Check on how long it is going to take to boil your pasta and time adding it to the water so it will be done about the same time as your sauce is. You are only 25 minutes away from done at this point.

Sauté the garlic

Sauté the zucchini

Still at medium high heat, add the chopped zucchini. When the zucchini has come up to temperature in the skillet, there should be lots of steam. The water in the zucchini is evaporating. Keep that steam going for 3-5 minutes, stirring constantly until the white “flesh” starts turning translucent. The pictures will show how the zucchini steams from white and firm, to a more tender light translucent green. You don’t need it fully cooked. You just want to get some of the moisture out.

The metamorphous from vegetables to sauce

As you work with different ingredients and recipes, you start to recognize the morphing of the ingredients into the finished product. With practice you will know when your dish is done by the way it looks. That’s why we include pictures for each stage of preparation and cooking. We hope they help you to know what to look for when you are making our recipes and in your everyday cooking. Using your eyes or a tooth test for doneness is a much more reliable way to determine when your dish is done than any given cook time. There are so many variables that can effect cook time, such as the burner heat and the size of the vegetable chop.

Watch it come together

Add the chopped tomatoes, basil, salt and pepper to the skillet with your sautéed zucchini and mix it all together.

With the temperature still set on medium high heat the tomatoes are going to start cooking down pretty quickly. When the rendered tomato juice and olive oil comes to a boil, let it boil for 3 minutes. Then, turn the heat down and simmer UNCOVERED for 20 minutes. It is important to leave the skillet uncovered.

Because you are simmering in an uncovered skillet, you may need to have your stove set higher than the simmer mark on your temperature dial to keep the mixture at a simmer. You are looking for small bubbles to be popping up here and there consistently during simmering. There should be steam coming from the skillet during the entire cook time.

Here are our pictures showing you our zucchini and tomato sauce in the making. With our “trained” eye (meaning we have been doing this a long time) we know our sauce is done when we see that the tomatoes have cooked down into the olive oil becoming a sauce. The colors, like the flavors have melded together and its all a lot lighter in color.

Serve