Fried zucchini with parmesan polenta and crisp baby spinach

Fried zucchini with parmesan polenta and crisp baby spinach

 

Yellow and green zucchini slices

Summer in a bowl: yellow and green zucchini

Hello everyone! As you might have noticed, Big Apple Curry has taken a brief summer hiatus from posting, but here we are. Mid-August must be the slowest time of the summer. Everything becomes lazy and sluggish in New York City, as most people are on long-planned summer vacations or braving heat waves with temperatures exceeding 90F. Welcome, peak of summer. Labor Day is still two weeks away and will soon usher in the Fall, but for now, it’s hot and everything is quiet, and, well, the livin’ is easy, as the song goes. For me, summer equals zucchini. Especially at this time of year, when zucchini abound in supermarkets and vegetable gardens. I bought two shiny yellow ones and a speckled green one in the market, and figured I would come up with some new way to use them. Tonight was the night — “It’s Zucchini Friday!” I declared to Sean as he walked in the door from work (I think he was hoping for pizza).

Back in grad school at Columbia University, my roommate Yasmina would often make a quick sauté of fried zucchini as a side dish. I loved how crispy and soft each delicate slice would be, melting in my mouth with a bit of sharpness from browning in the skillet. I often like to serve different things over polenta and although the ready-to-go polenta logs on the supermarket shelf might appear off-putting to some, I always keep a couple in my cupboard when I’m in a pinch. The ingredients are simple (cornmeal, salt, water) and if the serving size is right, polenta can be a low-carb option. I serve everything from homemade bolognese to a mixed root vegetable hash over polenta — anytime you don’t feel like having pasta or rice, try it out and see if you like it. I thought Yasmina’s razor-thin fried zucchini would be sublime if layered delicately over toasted slices of thick Polenta with lots of Parmesan cheese and finished with a bit of crisped up baby spinach. Summery yet hearty, at the same time. Sean’s plate was clean before I even had a chance to dip a fork into mine. It wasn’t pizza, but he was smiling.

Fried Zucchini with Parmesan Polenta and Crisp Baby Spinach

Serves 4

Ingredients

  • 3 medium zucchini, thinly sliced into rounds
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper
  • 1/4 cup all-purpose-flour
  • 1/2 cup canola oil
  • 1 package ready made polenta (I used Bel Aria ready-made-polenta)
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
  • 1 cup baby spinach

Preparation

  1. Place zucchini slices into a large mixing bowl. Add salt, pepper, and all-purpose-flour and gently fold so that each zucchini slice is coated with the mixture. Set aside.
  2. In a large non-stick skillet heat canola oil over medium-high heat. Once it’s sizzling, add a layer of zucchini slices so that none are overlapping. As the slices begin to brown, use tongs to carefully flip each one (see photo below). This process will start out slow but once the skillet get’s going the zucchini will brown very quickly. Once they’re crisp and creamy and slightly browned on both sides, transfer the zucchini using tongs or a slotted spoon to a large platter lined with paper towel and sprinkle with a bit of salt. Repeat with remaining zucchini (I did this in 3 batches). After you remove the last batch, throw in the baby spinach, which will quickly wilt in the skillet and pick up all the yummy flavors from your fried zucchini.
  3. While you’re working on the first batch of zucchini slices and waiting for them to brown, prepare the polenta. On a large cutting board, slice polenta into thick rounds. Place the rounds on an aluminum foil lined tray and brush with olive oil. Place in oven under broiler. Keep checking on it every 5 minutes — it shouldn’t take more than 10-15 min at most to begin browning on the top.
  4. Once the polenta is ready, you should be finishing your last batch of zucchini, and you’re ready to plate: place 3-4 discs of polenta on a plate and sprinkle generously with Parmesan cheese; then add two layers of zucchini, topped by the spinach, and top with more Parmesan cheese.
Making Fried Zucchini with Parmesan Polenta and Crisp Baby Spinach

I didn’t realize that like my son Liam, most 2-year olds are fascinated by cooking and want to help. As I was slicing the zucchini, I gave him a cutting board and the zucchini end bits and he thought it was fantastic.

Fried Zucchini

Layer your zucchini slices like this, make sure they don’t overlap — this way each one will brown nicely (as Julia Child would say, don’t crowd the pan)

Fried Zucchini

Within no more than 5 minutes the slices should be flipped over — if you’re not sure, just keep this photo handy, it should look like this (keep your eye on it because they can go from brown to black very quickly)

Fried Zucchini

When in doubt, your zucchini slices should look pretty much like this once you remove them from the skillet to a platter lined with paper towel

Broiling Polenta

You might look down on ready-to-go polenta logs, but I find they’re really handy, and the ingredients are simple: water, cornmeal, and salt. Simply slice them thickly and brush with olive oil.

Broiling polenta

You can even use a toaster oven if you’re only making this dish for two people — put the broiler on, no need to preheat!

Broiled polenta

Once the polenta slices begin to brown a little and bubble up on top, thanks to the olive oil and the broiler, you’re ready to plate!

Crisp Baby Spinach

Once your zucchini is done, toss in some baby spinach, which wilts within seconds — use a higher heat to make them crisp up, thanks to the residual oil from the zucchini

Fried Zucchini with Parmesan Polenta and Crispy Baby Spinach

….Summer days drifting away to those summer nights…Fried zucchini with Parmesan polenta and crispy baby spinach