Zucchini Goes With... Everything

The crop continues to be bountiful, mostly we pick them when they are smallish, however despite our best efforts, one or two escape and become big monsters. If you grow zucchinis this will be a familiar challenge. A big zucchini is best grated and added into everything. Grated zucchini is good mixed into mince, it will extend the mixture and  lighten the texture of meatballs, burgers and meatloaf.

Meatballs make a great finger food. In this recipe the addition of the grated zucchini makes them juicy and the sesame oil and seeds and creates more of an Asian feel. Sometimes I add some finely chopped chilli to the mixture. Serve with a dipping sauce. Make burger sized patties, serve with coleslaw, very lightly dressed with a little Kewpie mayonnaise, some sushi vinegar and a few drops of sesame oil.

The pork and zucchini mixture is also good in sausage rolls. Make them bite sized for finger food or larger for a family meal. Use sheets of commercial puff pastry and sprinkle the sesame seeds on top of the glazed pastry. Slightly undercook the sauasage rolls if reheating, this will prevent the pastry from becoming too brown.

Sesame Seed Crusted Pork and Zucchini Meatballs

500g pork mince 1 zucchini, grated 1 onion, finely diced 1 clove garlic, crushed 2 - 3 eggs

¼ teaspoon sesame oil 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon black pepper sesame seeds Dipping Sauce 2 tablespoon kecap manis /soy sauce 4 tablespoons sweet chilli sauce sesame oil

Method

Combine all ingredients except for the sesame seeds. Mix well. Mixture should be soft and moist, add the third egg if necessary.

Roll mixture into small, bite sized balls. Roll each ball in sesame seeds.

Place meatballs on an oven tray covered with baking parchment. Bake at 180 deg C until golden brown and cooked. Approximately 20 minutes or longer if the meatballs are bigger. Check that they are cooked by cutting on in half.

To make the dipping sauce
Combine the soy and sweet chilli sauce together, add a few drops of seasme oil and mix, check the flavour and add more sesame if needed. Adjust the consistency of the sauce with some water if too thick.

Looking for further ideas? Here are some other recipes on my blog that make use zucchinis.

Savoury
add grated zucchini to mince for succulent burgers,
add grated or small dice to all braises/casseroles/stews 
add grated to meat sauce /bolognaise sauce/savoury mince/chilli
make zucchini fritters or pakoras
make this dip/spread
add to soup like this or this
thinly slice and add to noodle dishes or stir fry
dice and make this no fuss chicken dinner or Mediterranean chicken
add to vegetable stews or curries
or substite grated zucchini for the cooked vegetables in these savoury muffins
for something sweet, try this zucchini loaf

Keep the small to medium sized ones for stirfry or as a substitute for lettuce in salads.

This book was loaned to me by my friend Suzanne.
Devoted to the zucchini and many years old. Clearly, the problem of the zucchini glut has been around for some time.