Zucchini and eggplants are debuting in our Assisi countryside garden now…..
and I decided to prepare them for Pino: adding a Sicilian touch (as he is from Palermo).
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Herbs I’d use? Parsley….
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and mint:
I’d decided to season the sauteed eggplants with diced mint and garlic, olive oil and a splash of wine vinegar. Actually, in Sicily, the friend zucchini are often seasoned in this way – buonissime!
But this time, I used that seasoning on the fried eggplant slices and seasoned the fried zucchini in the Umbrian rural way: with diced garlic and parsley and olive oil.
I added a touch of vinegar, too…as vinegar stops foods from going off. No need to refrigerate your leftovers if the dish is made with vinegar: useful for those hot Sicilian summers when years ago, many did not have refrigerators…or very small ones.
I sliced the eggplants vertically, after slicing off narrow strips on both sides to assure more even frying (I would do the same with the zucchini – and small-to-medium-sized ones best for this recipe).
After slicing the eggplants, I soaked them in heavily-salted cold water for about 20 minutes, to leach out all the bitterness. Not necessary for the zucchini.
I fried the zucchini first in a mixture of olio di semi (oil of mixed seeds – any vegetable oil may be used) and our olive oil. NOTE: only olive oil is not appropriate for frying as it will smoke and burn. I put one slice in the oil first to determine that the oil was hot enough for frying.
The oil was ready when it sizzled around that slice. I rapidly slid in other well-dried zucchini slices, making sure they filled the frying pan but did not overlap (for ideal frying):
As they fried, I diced finely the washed parsley with about 3 garlic cloves:
For dicing, Pino and I always use our very precious mezzaluna (“half-moon,” i.e, cradle knife): a gift to Pino in the 1970’s when he lived and worked in Milan – from an elderly neighbor.
The zucchini slices were frying nicely…
…and as I removed each slice with a fork to dry on brown paper (I save all the bags our bread comes in for frying tasks), I quickly slid in another slice – to avoid the oil smoking, burning:
As I put the last fried zucchini on the brown paper, I slipped eggplants into the oil.
…and fried until a crisp golden…
…an
….and I diced the mint and garlic
The mint/garlic mixture would be sprinkled on the eggplant with a generous splash of olive oil – and a light splash of wine vinegar – before gently mixing:
I seasoned the fried zucchini with the diced parsley and garlic,…
…adding also olive oil and a splash of wine vinegar, then mixing gently:
For our dinner I included another summer vegetable dish I often make, that Sicilian peppers dish, la peperonata. You can find the recipe here.
Pino’s goats’ milk cheese topped off our dinner:
For Pino, “buonissimo!”
Why not try these easy summer dishes for family and friends?
Buon appetito.
See Pino milking our goats here.
See how to make another zucchini recipe here.
Read about cooking together in our home – and using the mezzaluna.
Read about a peppers dish Pino cooked for a dinner in our farmhouse for tour guests.
Read about an Umbrian rural dish highlighting peppers (and zucchini can join in, too).
Read about joining peppers and figs in a recipe.
More recipes are here.
