If you have a garden, raising zucchini is a challenge. Not in the sense that it’s hard to grow — no. Rather, how to use its abundance. The courgette season has not yet begun in northern France due to our dismal spring, but when it starts it will start with a vengeance. Once I’ve made zucchini soup, zucchini salad, stuffed zucchini, steamed zucchini and zucchini gratin, I can run out of ideas. Then I remember this fabulously simple recipe.
Courgettes sautées à l’ail / Zucchini sautéed with garlic
Preparing zucchini this way is child’s play. You slice it, brown it in olive oil, add some garlic and thyme and — voilà. A dish that will fill your kitchen with the delicious aromas of southern France. It marries well with virtually every kind of meat and fish (although I would avoid serving it beside cream sauces). And you can make it early in the day and reheat it when suppertime rolls around, or when your grilled sausages are ready to come off the barbecue. I learned this recipe from my downstairs neighbor Manuela, whose kitchen is a delight of dishes with a Riviera flavor. Her husband is Italian and a wonderful everyday chef himself. Thank you, Manuela!
