Zucchini Gratin with Tomato and Marjoram

It's a little late in the season for zucchini but New York has been having unseasonably warm weather (at least when the article was written), and the CC found excellent zucchini at the farmers' market.

When asked about the presence of such zucchini, the farmer merely grunted, "Greenhouse."

A few days later when the CC was trying to scramble up something to eat, he thought about making one of the usual zucchini dishes but then he decided to consult Marcella Hazan on a whim.

And lo and behold, she rode to the rescue as she is always wont to.

You need to make a tomato sauce for this but just this once as luck would have it, the CC had some leftover in the fridge (from a completely disastrous culinary attempt which will not be revealed.)

What the CC adores about Marcella is that her recipes always succeed. She should be beatified.

Ingredients

2 large zucchini
1 tbsp garlic

1 cup tomato sauce
1/4 tsp marjoram
4 tbsp Italian parsley (finely chopped)

parmigiano-reggiano (very coarsely grated)

olive oil
black pepper

breadcrumbs

Recipe

The trick here is simple. You first fry the garlic and the zucchini to get the Maillard going. Cook until they are slightly limp. Take them off the heat.

Mix the tomato sauce with the marjoram, parsley, and plenty of black pepper.

Then, layer zucchini/sauce/cheese/zucchini/cheese/breadcrumbs in a oven-proof gratin dish.

Please note that the garlic doesn't show up in the final dish although a slight memory of its taste certainly does.

Bake at 400°F uncovered for 15-20 mins.

Zucchini Gratin