The allium family (including garlic, onions, leeks, shallots, and chives) is well known to even the most basic chef. After all, what pantry is complete without onions and garlic? But these tasty plants are also nutrition powerhouses, packed with antioxidants that have shown potential in the fight against cancer, and heart disease.
Give your alliums a French twist with this recipe for Courgette (Zucchini) Gratin, sent to us by our resident chef, Dr. Linda Doody.
“I know once people get connected to real food, they never change back.”
–Alice Waters
Courgette (Zucchini) Gratin
Adapted from Michel Roux at Home, Michel Roux, Jr (2023)
Notes
Gratin is derived from the French verb gratiner—to broil. It is traditionally baked and/or broiled in a shallow dish until a topping of cheese or breadcrumbs becomes crispy.
Michel Roux is a British-French chef and, as son of the late Albert Roux, part of the Roux culinary dynasty. Albert and his late brother Michel opened the classic French restaurant Le Gavroche in London's Mayfair in 1967, the first restaurant in Britain to gain a Michelin star (1974), followed by a second (1977) and third (1982). Albert’s son Michel (known as Michel Roux Jr., although Michel is his uncle) took over the restaurant in 1991, giving the cuisine a lighter, more modern twist, until its closure in January 2024. He remains head of food and beverage at The Langham hotel in London, and has written 9 cookbooks.
The method for drawing out the liquid from grated zucchini is from Pasta with Born-Again Zucchini and Pesto printed in The Best American Recipes 2002–2003 (edited by series founder Fran McCullough with Molly Stevens and Anthony Bourdain), and originally sourced from Simple Cooking (1987) by John Thorne.
Ingredients
- 700 g (24.7 oz) large to medium-sized green and yellow zucchini, grated. For large zucchini, first remove the core and seeds to avoid bitterness (zucchini comes from the Italian word zucchino, which means “tiny squash”. Courgette is just French for the same thing, although some use the term more widely to include other summer squash)
- 1 Tbsp coarse salt
- 60 g (2.12 oz) butter + extra to grease gratin pan
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 banana shallots, finely chopped (also known as echalion, these are a cross between a regular shallot and an onion. According to Nigella Lawson, regular shallots can be substituted 2:1 for banana shallots)
- 5–6 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 40 g (1.4 oz) all-purpose flour
- 350 mL milk
- Grating of nutmeg (or a pinch of ground nutmeg)
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 200 g (7.1 oz) hard cheese (Tomme de Pyrénées, Compté, or hard goat cheese)
- 1 green and 1 yellow medium zucchini, thinly sliced crosswise
- Salt and ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 220°C (standard)/Fan 200°C (convection)/Gas 7, which is equivalent to about 425°F (standard) and 410°F (convention). Grease a 24 cm (9.45 inch) diameter gratin dish with butter.
- Toss the grated zucchini with the coarse salt and let stand for 30 minutes to draw out some of the liquid. Wrap the zucchini in a thin, cotton kitchen towel and twist tightly over the sink to extract the remaining liquid.
- Heat the oil in a large frying pan, add the shallots and garlic, and sauté without allowing them to color. Add the grated zucchini and continue to sauté until no moisture remains.
- In a separate 3-quart saucepan, melt the 60 g butter, stir in the flour to make a roux, and cook for a few minutes over low heat. Add the milk slowly to form a béchamel sauce, whisking constantly to avoid lumps. Season the sauce with salt, pepper, and nutmeg, and simmer for about 10 minutes to thicken.
- Take the pan off the heat, stir in the zucchini mixture, and whisk in the eggs and half the cheese. Pour the batter into the gratin dish. Arrange sliced zucchini in concentric circles on the top of the gratin, alternating the colors. Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top and bake for 30 minutes until golden brown. Serve at once with salad on the side.