Braised Zucchini with Vegetables in the Oven

How to fry the vegetables

1. Ideally, the braised zucchini keeps the shape of its pieces during cooking and does not turn into “caviar”. Use firm young fruits with a dark green or yellow skin. It is also important that the seeds have not formed yet and the flesh is pale and uniform. Hot and sweet peppers are strictly optional, a secondary addition, but a tasty one. The dish also uses onion and unpeeled garlic cloves.

   

   All the vegetables need to be fried first. To keep the dish from being heavy in calories, use only a little olive oil.

2. Fry the zucchini on both sides until browned. Cut the zucchini into rounds about 15-20 mm thick. Brush the bottom of a well-heated frying pan with a silicone brush and lay the rounds in it. Fry over medium heat on one side until clearly browned. Then brush the unfried side, turn the rounds over and fry the other side the same way. They do not need to be cooked through; it is enough for them to brown. Move the fried rounds to a plate for now.

   

3. Fry the whole peppers and garlic until the peppers start to brown and soften. You do not need to add oil to the pan. Wash the peppers and wipe them dry. It is best if they are undamaged, so the chili does not add noticeable heat to the dish. Separate the head of garlic into cloves without peeling them. Put the peppers and whole unpeeled cloves in the pan and fry everything together over medium heat. If you are not using peppers, fry the garlic alone the same way. Move the peppers and garlic to a plate for now.

   

4. Fry the onion until it begins to caramelize. Cut the onion into thick strips. Add a little olive oil to the pan and fry the onion over medium heat until soft and golden.

   

How to braise the zucchini

1. Braised zucchini turns out best in clay cookware with a lid. It can be a pot of a suitable size or a deep pan.

2. While the onion fries, prepare the clay cookware. Usually, unless the maker says otherwise, preparation means filling the clay dish with hot water so it soaks into the pores. Leave the water for about 10-15 mins.

3. Layer the vegetables in the dish. Pour the water out of the clay dish and put the fried zucchini pieces into it. Add salt and freshly ground black pepper. Add the whole fried peppers and garlic cloves, and the fried onion on top as a layer. Pour in a quarter cup of hot water or even less, because the zucchini will release a lot of moisture while cooking.

   

4. Cover the dish with the lid, put it in a cold oven and only then turn the heat on, because clay can crack from a sudden change in temperature. Heat the oven to 180-190°C and braise the zucchini for about 1 h. Some of that time goes to warming up the whole mass of vegetables. You may need to extend the time. What matters is that you are happy with how done it is: the zucchini should be soft, but do not turn the vegetables into a uniform mush. 10 mins before the end of cooking, remove the lid, add more salt to taste, stir the zucchini lightly and return it to the oven without the lid.

   

   If for some reason you cannot cook in clay cookware, braise in an ordinary frying pan or pot with a lid on the stove, using the lowest heat at which the liquid still shows signs of simmering. The cooking time may then need to be longer. Also make sure the vegetables do not burn.

Serving

1. Bring the finished dish to the table in the same dish it was cooked in, and everyone can spoon the vegetables onto their own plate. You can sprinkle the zucchini with finely chopped parsley or green onion tops. The dish has very few spices, so the flavor of the vegetables comes first. Sauces and ketchup would be out of place too. Just add fresh whole grain bread, which is the best option.