When I saw this original way to prepare zucchini as a side dish on the blog of my Italian blogging friend Bea, I knew I had to try it. I’m glad that I did, because it is absolutely wonderful. Zucchini is thinly sliced with a vegetable peeler, and then stir-fried with slivered almonds. It was a wonderful contorno to pork tenderloin with a balsamic reduction. The texture is very different from other ways of preparing zucchini. I will definitely make this again, and since it is so original it is also nice for dinner parties! Grazie, Bea. The only drawback is that it takes a couple of minutes to ‘peel’ the zucchini. Bea used parsley, but since I was out I used thyme instead.
Ingredients
For 1-2 servings
1 large zucchini, about 400 grams (.9 lb)
1 Tbsp slivered almonds
1/2 Tbsp thyme leaves
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper
Preparation
Wash and then dry the zucchini. Then ‘peel’ it with a vegetable peeler…
…and keep peeling until you reach the soft part with the seeds. Discard this, or reserve it for another use.
Put the slivered zucchini in a non-stick frying pan with the olive oil over high heat.
Add the slivered almonds.
Stir-fry…
…until the almonds are golden and the zucchini is tender but still firm to the bite, about 8-10 minutes. Add the thyme during the last minute.
Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.
Serve at once as a side dish.
Flashback
Tournedos Rossini is a steak of beef tenderloin (also known as filet mignon) with foie gras and a madeira demi-glace sauce. It is even better with some freshly shaved truffle on top. It’s become a tradition to prepare it every year around Christmas time.It is one of my favorite dishes and I still remember tasting it for the first time on June 17, 2003 at Auberge du Falkenstein in Philippsbourg (north-east of France). It was good there were hardly any other guests around, because the noises I was making while eating this might have caused other people to think we were doing something else rather than eating. It was THAT good.
Stefan's Gourmet Blog 
Simple and elegant Stefan. Why can I never get to post like this?
LikeLike
You are too kind, Conor. What I personally liked about this post is that we had this tonight and that it took me only about half an hour to process the photos and write the post. I’m still learning how to use my new lights though. Especially how to cook with them in my kitchen. With just me my kitchen is fine, but with those lights it is a bit cramped!
LikeLike
Tell me about it! The results are much improved. Things get a bit difficult for me when I have the lights and camera set up and mother, wife and daughters all want to come in and see what’s cooking. Now, that’s cramped.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for sharing this simple and delicious dish, I’m always on the look out for new ways with zucchini
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thanks, I’m sure you’ll like this.
LikeLike
fascinating! My husband won’t eat vinegar, sadly, but maybe I’ll make it for myself!
LikeLike
There is no vinegar in the zucchini, so you can make it as a side dish to something other than pork with a balsamic reduction.
LikeLike
Squisite! Le zucchine sono un ortaggio molto versatile: un vero aiuto in cucina. Sono felice che Bea te le abbia fatte scoprire come contorno!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thank you for sharing a new way to cook zucchini, I too am always looking for a a different way to use it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I tried the zuccini now twice and it is really good. Amazing how different a vegetable can taste depending on how you cut it. By the way, I fried it much shorter and it looked even better than on your photo (more golden).
LikeLiked by 1 person
Stefan it’s really funny that my zucchini are going through all over the world. I don’t know if my english is correct I hope you’ll understand the meaning. Thank you again for mentioning me and I think your dish looks very nice. Ciaoo Bea
LikeLike
I certainly understand what you mean and it is true. One of the great things of food blogging! Thank you again for sharing the recipe.
LikeLike
Ecco svelato il mistero!
LikeLiked by 1 person