Friday, July 27, 2007

Zucchini Carpaccio, two versions

Last night a group of friends came over for some food and watch a great film. We were 13 in total (plus 5-month old twins and a 7-month old girl), and I wanted to food to be light and summery. I served them Johanna's wasabi and caviar potatoes, a version of Alanna's beetroot pesto, my small beetroot & blue cheese tartlets, and blue cheese and raisin Danish pastry rolls, and two versions of zucchini carpaccio. As for sweets, I had made a version of Dagmar's mocca pavlovas, and K. made a large batch of his brilliant canelés. We also had five types of frozen desserts: Vietnamese coffee ice cream, Gooseberry sorbet, Coconut sorbet, Blackcurrant sorbet and Watermelon sorbet. All home-made :)

I'll share the frozen dessert recipes soon, as well as wax lyrical about Alanna's beetroot pesto (I simply cannot have two beetroot posts in a row, can I?) and Dagmar's choco-coffee pavlovas. Here are my versions of zucchini carpaccio. Although the zucchini carpaccio recipe de jour - according to Kalyn - is Clotilde's version with crumbled goat cheese and poppy seeds or Courgette au Coquelicot en Carpaccio, I relied on a recipe from Food Network. I had two medium sized zucchinis, one green, one yellow, and both pretty gorgeous. I went Mediterranean with the green zucchini, and slightly Arabic with the yellow one and liked them both equally (using sumac instead of lemon for the required sharp element). Which one would you prefer?

Green Zucchini Carpaccio with Rocket



1 medium-sized green zucchini
Maldon sea salt
black pepper, coarsely ground
extra virgin olive oil
lemon juice
parmesan shavings
rocket leaves, torn into pieces

Slice zucchini into very thin rounds either with a sharp knife or mandoline (the latter is much easier). Overlap the zucchini disks in one layer, season with salt and pepper. Drizzle with olive oil and a generous squeeze of lemon juice. Garnish with parmesan shavings and rocket.
Serve immediately.

Yellow Zucchini Carpaccio with Sumac & Mint



1 medium yellow zucchini
Maldon sea salt
black pepper, coarsely ground
extra virgin olive oil
sumac
fresh mint leaves
Parmesan shavings

Slice zucchini into very thin rounds either with a sharp knife or mandoline (the latter is much easier). Overlap the zucchini disks in one layer, season with salt and pepper. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with sumac, garnish with parmesan shavings and fresh mint leaves.
Serve immediately.

BLAST FROM THE PAST
A year ago I wrote about forageing for honey-coloured cloudberries. Two years ago I reviewed reviewed Alexandra Antonioni's book "Eat Me: Love, Sex and the Art of Eating" and was amazed to see that the author herself popped by to leave a comment.

15 comments:

Lydia (The Perfect Pantry) said...

Both versions are beautiful -- the perfect light dish for this hot weather we've been having in New England!

Meeta K. Wolff said...

Pille incredible sounding feast. Now that's really a way to watch a movie. The carpaccios look lovely. Perfect and light!

MyKitchenInHalfCups said...

Movie feast - wouldn't matter what the movie was with food like that.
I love the mint idea and I have a corner grown wild with it!
I'm very much ok with two beet recipes in a row . . . even three I think.

Susan from Food Blogga said...

Oh, I'm really lovin' the zucchini and rocket combination! So, when's the next movie night? ;)

Figs, Bay, Wine said...

I don't think I can choose between the two - they both make my mouth water. It sounds like a real feast! I can't wait to hear about the rest.

mycookinghut said...

Looks delicious!!

Unknown said...

Both versions look lovely. Very summary. I am going to try it.

Anonymous said...

Both versions look tempting! And so vibrant!

Thredahlia said...

Nii võib film ju vaatamata jääda :D

Jeanne said...

Mmmm, zucchini carpaccio! I often make a big platter of it at summer barbecues as a salad, scttered with capers and topped with pecorino and a wholegrain mustard dressing: http://cooksister.typepad.com/cook_sister/2004/09/whole_salmon_on.html

I love the neatness of your presentation - mine is a very different affair with the zucchini in long ribbons and arranged a la Jackson Pollock :)

Pille said...

Lydia - it's summery, and perfect for a warm summer day - as long as you make it at the last moment, or otherwise it'll wilt!

Meeta - well, I do need to offer something else in addition to a movie, no?

Tanna - I've given the other beetroot recipe now, too. Glad to hear you wouldn't have minded, if I had posted them in a row :)

Susan - I'm thinking of making into a monthly occasion. Next month - "Memoirs of a Geisha" and some Japanese food :)

Figs Olives Wine - it was a pretty lovely spread indeed..

Lemongrass, This Little Mainyacha - thank you!

Joey - I love the colours, too!

Thredahlia - nojah :)

Jeanne - I remember your zucchini carpaccio - everybody who attended the Henley picnic in 2005 (?) was singing praises to it!!! Thanks for reminding me of your version!

Scott Plunkett said...

Is there another name for Sumac? Here in Canada we have a shrub that is commonly known as "poison sumac" - I highly suspect we're not talking about the same thing.

Pille said...

Chz - indeed, you're right. What is known as sumac spice are "the drupes of the Genus Rhus [that] are harvested, the hairy coating removed and then ground to a deep-red to purple powder" (Wikipedia). The only sumac species that is used for spice in Europen is that of Rhus coriaria L.
Poison sumac (Toxicodendron vernix) never has red berries, but grey or white, which makes it easy to distinguish from 'spice sumac'.

tamaso said...

great blog! just stumbled upon this looking for yellow zucchini recipes, i will make the carpaccio tonight!

cheap viagra said...

That's amazing to see when the zukinni change to yellow it taste delicious people always ask me how do I made that.