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Zucchine «a scapece» (Piquant Fried Zucchini)

Total Time2 hours

Ingredients

  • 4-6 medium zucchini
  • White wine vinegar
  • 2-3 cloves of garlic
  • A bunch of mint
  • Salt and pepper
  • Red pepper flakes optional

Instructions

  • Cut the zucchini into rounds—not too thin as they will reduce considerably.
  • Dry the zucchini rounds out a bit to remove the excess liquid. The traditional, and still the best, way to dry the zucchini is by laying them out in the sun, on a drying rack or simply on a cutting board, for an hour or two (depending on the strength of the sun) to dry, turning them halfway through. They should not dry out totally, of course, but be dry and slightly 'rubbery' to the touch. If it's a cloudy day or this method is otherwise impractical for you, then you can use the more familiar method of sprinkling the zucchini rounds in salt and draining them, weighted down, in a colander. After an hour, pat them dry and proceed with the next step.
  • Once dry, shallow-fry the zucchini in olive oil, to which you will have added a clove or two of garlic. The zucchini rounds should fit loosely in one layer, so you will probably need to proceed in batches. Allow the rounds to brown a bit on one side, until nicely spottled but not uniformly brown (see photo) and then transfer them to a shallow bowl while you fry the next batch.
  • You sprinkle each layer of fried zucchini with salt (go easy if you've salted them as a first step), pepper, roughly torn or chopped mint leaves and some white wine vinegar.
  • Continue frying, layering and seasoning the zucchini rounds until you have used them all up. Allow the zucchini to marinate for at least an hour. The flavor improves with time, and it is even better the next day.