Zucchini Gratin is the most delicious way to use up your garden harvest. It’s cheesy, flavorful, and easy.
Zucchini Gratin was originally a recipe that I tried just because when you grow zucchini you get a ton, even if you only have one plant. The original recipe was without meat, was a side dish and was fabulous except that I still had to make a main dish too. So tried it with hamburger mixed in at the same time as the zucchini. It is over the top delicious and my family has no problem eating this once a week as long as we have zucchini coming out of the garden.
Ingredients
1 large or 4 small zucchini
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
4 tbs butter
1 small onion, as thin or thickly sliced as you like
1/4 cup broth, beef works with the flavor best but chicken works too
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, to melt on top
3 cloves garlic, minced or diced
1/2 tsp salt, you can use more or less depending on the broth you use
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 pound meat of your choice, we prefer ground beef or bacon. Drain most of your grease off and substitute the rest for the butter
Tools – You will need a cast iron skillet for this meal.
I like to chop up all my ingredients first. Then in your cast iron skillet cook your meat, if your making it a meal. Once cooked remove all but 4 tbs of grease. If not using meat start out adding 4 tbs butter to your pan. Add your onion to pan and caramelize it. mix in your garlic ad sauté it all for about 1 minute until fragrant. Now we mix in the broth, salt, pepper, and the cream. Let that all bubble as you stir it well, about 1 more minute. Then add the parmesan, mixing it in as it melts. Then add in your zucchini and again mix it well as it cooks for about 5 minutes to soften your zucchini slightly. We want the finished zucchini to still have some firmness so only cook until al dente at this point. Top with the shredded mozzarella cheese and bake in your oven 12-15 minutes until cheese is brown and the sauce is bubbling.
Tips
If you just want this as a side dish leave out the meat
I like to cut the zucchini up into to bite size peices, so for smaller zucchini you will get the round look but with larger ones I cut them into fourths so they are more of points. The taste is of course the same
Zucchini Gratin
Equipment
- Cast iron skillet
Ingredients
- 1 lg zucchini
- 1/2 cut parmesan cheese
- 4 tbs butter
- 1 sm onion sliced thin or you may also dice it
- 1/4 cup broth, beef or chicken
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1 lb cooked meat of your choice, to make it a meal
Instructions
- In a large cast iron skillet melt butter and caramelize the onion
- Add your garlic and sauté for 1 minute until fragrant
- Pour in broth, salt, pepper, and the cream, mix until well combined and let bubble slightly
- Mix in the parmesan cheese then the zucchini cook until soft or about 5 minutes, add in your meat if using any (leftover shredded chicken, ground beef, and bacon all work great)
- Top with shredded mozzarella cheese and bake in oven at 425 for 12-15 minutes until bubbly and the cheese brown to your liking