Magda Zucchini Bake, When Chubby is Better than Slender
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Do you like surprises? I do, especially when I go to the farmer’s market and see something I’ve never seen before. And, this happens frequently. I ask myself, “where have I been?” Eating on the moon, or just too comfortable buying what I know.
That’s what happened when I purchased magda zucchini, a middle eastern variety. It’s a very light (whitish) color and chubby, which might make you think it’s not as good as the cute and elegant small and slender zucchini. But in this case, chubby is better. My farmer assured me that it was sweet, tender and delicious, and he was honest.
The chubby round size, not unlike eggplant, could be great breaded and fried in discs as a crunchy side dish. But, I rarely go in that direction, always opting for roasting as my first choice. This takes a little prep time, and to make life easier, I did all the prep the night before, slicing and layering and then baked the next day. The left overs are just as good, maybe better and give you options for a breakfast or lunch with poached eggs or frittata filling or a sandwich on a crusty roll. I am always searching for ways to eat healthy and make more than one dish from a recipe, especially in summer.
The tomatoes were roasted to perfect sweetness and intense flavor, and the potatoes add that just right texture that zucchini doesn’t have. A ratio of one cup of potatoes to 3 cups of zucchini works well.
This is a combination of sweet onion (pre-fried) sliced potato, zucchini, and sliced tomato and topped with grape tomato. The flavor boosters are olive oil, basil, rosemary, thyme and a touch of garlic.
It was dark when this was finished, thus, the picture at the top was taking at night with a low light setting on my camera. Some may think zucchini is not an exciting vegetable. I think it’s a misunderstood vegetable. It has a distinct flavor, but it must be coaxed out. I thought it still a worthy blog post because zucchini is plentiful and affordable, and there is no reason why it can’t grace the table at least weekly.
Tell me, what is your favorite way to make zucchini and have you ever heard of the magda?
Magda Zucchini Bake, When Chubby is Better than Slender
Ingredients
- 1 onion thinly sliced
- olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic finely diced
- 3 zucchini If you can’t find magda, use regular zucchini
- 1 medium-large potato peeled, sliced medium
- 1 large tomato sliced medium
- 1 sweet red pepper
- poached eggs
- fresh herbs
- salt pepper
Instructions
- Slice onion thinly and saute in olive oil, until more than soft, almost caramelized. Set aside. Slice potatoes, tomatoes, zucchini the same size. Layer starting with zucchini,onion, potato, tomato, herbs. In between each layer, drizzle olive oil, sprinkle with herbs and parmesan cheese (the good kind). Keep the dish shallow. Each layer of potato and tomato is not a full layer, touching or over lapping, more scattered.
- Use salt and pepper as needed.
- Bake for one hour at 400 degrees, checking at the 40 minute point.
- Serve topped with poached eggs as an option.
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This sounds really good. A friend gave me some medge zucchini, so I want to try this. When you say use fresh herbs, what kind of fresh herbs.
Thank you
Use whatever you have on hand. They all work.
When do the onions go in?