Recipe: Zucchini Butter

When you cook zucchini down slowly, it takes on a deeper and more delicious flavor. The end result is a spread the consistency of marmalade.

Enjoy zucchini butter on toast, in sandwiches, as a topping for potatoes, as dip with pita chips or crudités, as the “sauce” on a pizza, stirred into scrambled eggs, a condiment for grilled meat, or as a side dish all summer long. Load up on locally grown zucchini at the Lenexa Farmers Market.

Recipe credit: Jennie Cook via Food52

Yield: Makes about 2 cups

Ingredients

2 pounds zucchini
1/4 cup olive oil, or butter
2 minced shallots
2 cloves garlic
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Coarsely grate the zucchini into a colander. Sprinkle with salt and let drain while mincing other veggies. Squeeze out water by wringing in a clean towel when ready to cook.
2. In a deep skillet, heat the olive oil/butter. Sauté the shallots. Add the zucchini and minced garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally over medium heat until the zucchini mixture reaches a spreadable consistency. If mixture begins to brown, turn down the heat, scraping the browned bits into the butter for added flavor. The zucchini will slowly caramelize into a nice vegetable jam.