Zoomie's Zucchini

I didn't plant zucchini this year so, unlike many others, I don't run and hide when someone offers to give me zucchinis and summer squashes. I'm delighted to receive all gifts of garden produce since the green beans I planted were eaten as soon as they emerged from the seeds by the plague of gophers we've been experiencing in our neighborhood and my two tomato plants are shivering in the foggy cold - they have set fruit but it refuses to ripen when fog blankets the sky for half the day. Even the Early Girl is pouting.

So when Dr. Biggles brought me tomatoes and squashes from his garden, I was more than happy to accept.  The cherry tomatoes barely lasted until the end of the day. They were numerous but so sweet and flavorful that we snapped them all up like the vegetal candy they were.  I still had some larger tomatoes and the squashes, so I decided to make a sort of squash stew, useful as either a side or a main dish.

I sautéed onions cut lengthwise in some olive oil, then added chopped shallot and garlic until all three had softened and the onion was just starting to brown.  Add two or three chunked squashes, a big shake (perhaps two tablespoons) of dried herbs (almost any kind you like - I used Herbes de Provence for convenience sake), salt, pepper, and two chunked tomatoes. You can add a can of crushed tomatoes, if you like, or just tomato sauce. I used a splash of white wine just to get the juices going and brought it all to a boil before covering it and lowering the heat to simmer for an hour or so. 

You know it's ready when the squashes become transparent and the scent from the pot is richly tempting.  If it's a little watery, you can leave the top off for the last half hour of simmering.  Then, spoon it into bowls, pass the cheese if you want, and dig in. We did without cheese on ours and it was nicely filling anyway. I made a big pot so we have had it as a side dish for two dinners and as a light lunch on the day following the pig-out at the Porkhouse.

When vegetables are this fresh, picked right out of the garden, the taste is simply out of this world. I was astonished, myself, by the remarkable difference, even though I shop weekly at our farmer's market and get my veggies straight from the farmers. Still, Dr. Biggles' tomatoes and zucchini were even fresher and even richer in flavor. It's a billboard for growing your own. 

Maybe next year...