Zucchini Parmigiana

• knife or mandolin
• 2 baking sheets or grill
• medium saucepan
• wooden spoon
• 9-inch springform pan or baking dish

• 6 medium zucchini (about 2½ pounds)
• 5-6 T olive oil
• salt
• pepper
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 c diced or crushed tomatoes
• ¼ c minced basil (about 1 c loosely-packed leaves)
• 2 c mozzarella sauce or other vegan mozz, grated
• ¼ c parmesan, grated

Trim zucchini, then slice lengthwise (¼ inch). Use half of the oil to lightly oil both sides of each slice.

• To grill, arrange slices on grill, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook about 4 minutes, until you can see grill marks. Turn and grill another 4 minutes.
• To bake, arrange slices on baking sheets, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and bake about 25 minutes, until just starting to brown around the edges.

Meanwhile, heat 1 T oil in pan over medium heat, and sauté garlic for a minute or two until golden. Add tomatoes and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 15 minutes, until thickened and slightly reduced. Remove from heat and stir in basil, salt, and pepper to taste.

Oil baking dish, then arrange a single layer of non-overlapping zucchini slices, cutting them if needed to cover the bottom of the dish. Spread with one-fourth of the sauce, then dot with spoonfuls of mozzarella (use about a quarter of it here) and 1 T parmesan. Repeat for three more layers, saving a bit of sauce to spread over the top. (At this point, you can save it to cook the next day – see below.)

Bake about 30 minutes, until bubbly. Remove from oven and let cool for at least 15 minutes (this will help the pieces remain intact when you cut them).

If using a springform pan, remove the sides and cut the torta into wedges. Otherwise, just cut pieces right in the baking dish and use a pie spatula or spoon to carefully remove them and serve.

To cook the next day, let the dish cool, then wrap it in plastic or foil and refrigerate. The next day, remove plastic or foil and cook for 35-40 minutes.

If you have a favorite marinara sauce already made or purchased, you can save a bit of time by using that instead of making the simple tomato sauce explained in step 3.

Adapted from the recipe for "Roasted Zucchini Torta with Tomatoes and Mozzarella" in Jack Bishop’s The Complete Italian Vegetarian Cookbook (read my review).

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