Skillet parmesan zucchini is the quick side dish you didn't know you needed. If you've never made them, prepare to be amazed. First, by how ridiculously easy this is. Second, by the flavour. Which is obvious, because zucchini are delicious and parmesan even more, what's not to love?
This is the kind of recipe that I haven't written before because I feel like this barely qualifies as a recipe. It is so easy. Yet, I know some of my followers appreciate the inspiration more than the technique, and often I get praised for inspiring them to make something they hadn't thought about and ended up loving. Prepare to love these parmesan zucchini.
If you prefer more challenging recipes, this blog has many more. Recipes that require more time and effort, and deliver delicious foods. If you found me because you were looking for something easy, well I'm glad you're here. Easy does not filter out good.
Ingredients & equipment
- Zucchini - choose them rather young and small
- Parmesan - my choice is Grana Padano
- Olive oil - for sautéing
- Salt to taste.
As the title of the post suggests, to make skillet parmesan zucchini you will need a skillet. I use a food processor for both grating the cheese and slicing the zucchini. You can obviously use a knife and cutting board, and a grater. Or even buy the cheese pre-grated.
How to make skillet parmesan zucchini
1. Fit a food processor with the disc grater and push through a piece of parmesan. Transfer grated parmesan aside and fit the food processor with the disc slicer. Push the zucchini through the fine slice slit.
2. Warm the olive oil in a skillet on medium heat. Add the sliced zucchini and stir around to distribute the heat. Add salt to taste, the zucchini might release some water. Keep cooking on medium heat constantly moving zucchini around until tender, 6 minutes.
3. Lower the heat and spread out zucchini in order to evenly cover the whole bottom of the pan. Sprinkle grated cheese all over, covering the whole surface.
4. Put the lid on and keep on low heat for 3-4 minutes, until the cheese melts. This is now ready to serve.
Skillet parmesan zucchini Recipe tips
Covering sautéed veggies with a layer of parmesan and letting it melt under the lid is actually an easy way to give any simple veggie dish an instant lift. My mom used to give cooked fennel this treatment. Alas, I never got to like fennel, and to this day it is the only food I won't eat (you will never find it on this blog, sorry not sorry). But she seemed to enjoy it more when prepared this way.
Young zucchini are to be preferred for this recipe. Their smaller size will deliver smaller rounds, which are easier to work with when sautéing. Also, some overly large zucchini wouldn't fit the food processor. Sure you could slice them lengthwise and still fit them through. But I like small rounds, I think the visual aspect should not be ignored.
Young zucchini also have firmer flesh and no seeds, which make older zucchini harder to work with. The seedy part of the flesh is soggy, and not ideal for this type of recipe. If you're stuck with old seedy zucchini and really want to try this recipe you can still use them, but I would recommend to remove the seedy core and only work with the firmer part.
More easy sides!
A single-vegetable side dish doesn't mean to be boring, and often its simplicity is what gives it even more flavour. Here is a selection of other simple veggie dishes that are easy to make and very tasty. Butter sautéed carrots are a huge favourite in this house. Oven-roasted peppers basically come together on their own. Turn eggplant slices into mini-pizzas! And we end with another skillet dish, a chickpea pancake from Italy. Click the pictures below to access more exciting side dishes.
If you tried this recipe, let me know your thoughts in the comments. If you're planning to try it another time, pin this recipe to Pinterest. Please consider subscribing to my newsletter and following me on Instagram and on Pinterest.
Parmesan zucchini in the skillet
Equipment
- Food processor
- Skillet with lid
Ingredients
- 2 zucchini small or medium is best
- 70 g parmesan
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Fit a food processor with the disc grater and push through a piece of parmesan. Transfer grated parmesan aside and fit the food processor with the disc slicer. Push the zucchini through the fine slice slit.
- Warm the olive oil in a skillet on medium heat. Add the sliced zucchini and stir around to distribute the heat. Add salt to taste, the zucchini might release some water. Keep cooking on medium heat constantly moving zucchini around until tender, 6 minutes.
- Lower the heat and spread out zucchini in order to evenly cover the whole bottom of the pan. Sprinkle grated cheese all over, covering the whole surface. Put the lid on and keep on low heat for 3-4 minutes, until the cheese melts.
