James Beard Award–winning author Cynthia Graubart, who splits her time between Georgia and Downeast Maine, can help cooks deal with summertime’s zucchini abundance. If you were to make every recipe in her newest cookbook, Zucchini Love, the effort would use up 75 pounds of the soft-skinned squash with its many shades of green.
Graubart writes that the fruit, native to Central America and the northern parts of South America, has been grown there for 8,000 years. Early explorers to the Americas brought squashes back to Europe circa 1400. The zucchini varieties we know and work to love today were developed in 19th century Italy.
Many of the recipes in Zucchini Love—like Greek-Style Pasta with Zucchini; Zucchini, Prosciutto, and Pesto Pizza; and Tomato Tian—reflect that heritage. But Graubart shows her American South culinary roots with more like Pimento Cheese–Stuffed Zucchini Flowers, Quick Zucchini-Parmesan Biscuits, and Chocolate-Pecan Zucchini Bundt Cake. She branches out to Asian-inspired dishes such as Zucchini Egg-Drop Soup and brings in a little whimsy with Lemon Zucchini Donuts. In the end, Graubart’s book will help you spread the Zucchini Love.
The recipes below, excerpted and used with permission from Storey Publishing, can be eaten alone or as a pair.
