Roasted Zucchini With Garlicky Bread Crumbs and Mozzarella

A few things to note: 1) Set broiler to high, otherwise the zucchini will not brown in the 5-6 minutes and cooking too long just makes them mushy. 2) The breadcrumbs make the dish. Nutritional yeast is a tasty breadcrumb addition/ sub for the dairy. 3) Maybe a little less generous with the salt? Two saltings plus anchovies was a bit much.

Larger planks of zucchini are the answer. They browned beautifully (used the convection feature) under the grill but still needed time in the oven to fully cook them. They were delicious and and not at all watery. (I oiled and salted them about 1/2 hour before I put them under the grill.) While it takes longer to make than the 25 minutes purported here, I would make this dish again and again. Thank you, Melissa.

I would give this a 3.5. The topping is very tasty! But the zucchini is a bit watery. Added extra half clove of garlic and more parmesan. I also added sliced cherry tomatoes on the side and topped with the crusty toppings from the baking sheet.

I wonder if you could salt the zucchini first and let sit for 20-30 minutes to draw out some moisture, then dry them on paper towel if that would help? This recipe sound delicious, but like you, who wants soggy zucchini. 😊

I scooped out seeds from raw zucchinis then filed with mixture (feta in place of mozz) added lemon zest and baked for 20 min — it was perfect!

The filling sounds amazing because you can’t beat the combo of anchovies, garlic, breadcrumbs, and mozzarella. I will do what has been successful for me in similar recipes. I cut zucchini in half, scoop out the seeds, par-boil for one minute, dry zucchini with paper towels, then I will use the rest of the ingredients listed here. I will skip the broil and just bake at 500 for the 5 minutes, and maybe broil for a minute or two if the dish needs added browning.

We made this recipe as written, and it was nearly inedible. It was way, way too salty (coming from folks who aren’t salt averse at all). I’d recommend thicker zucchini planks, no extra salt in the breadcrumb topping, one less anchovy fillet. It’s a tasty idea in theory, but this recipe was just a little off - and “generously salting” should be quantified.

Salt the zucchini a half hour ahead of time. It will release a lot of water. Drain and pat the slices dry with a towel and proceed with recipe but don't add more salt. Also, this recipe works well with those enormous zucchinis neighbors grow and give you. Cut the zucchini in half lengthwise and remove the pithy, seedy center with a spoon. Slice into 3/4 inch slices, salt ahead, drain and pat dry. Proceed with recipe but don't add more salt. I'll never diss enormous zucchini again!

Greatly enjoyed this however, I agree with some of the other comments that overall, too salty. Wondering if leaving the salt off the zucchini would not leave it as watery\mushy and cut down on the overall saltiness. I think next time I will cut the zucchini thicker so it's not cooked so thoroughly. I also used capers in place of olives as I don't care for olives. Overall, wonderful dish.

I make something like this pretty frequently, but never salt the zucchini first; the topping (and the miso-tahini-yogurt sauce I also often use) are salty enough. I expect that not pre-salting the zucchini will also help avoid the soggy problem some cooks are reporting.

Use a broiling pan so that moisture drains. I used very little salt as everything else was salty— cheese anchovies & my mixture of black pepper crackers & tortilla chips(crumbled). Even on high broiling in a gas oven took quite a while & everything had 2 be turned twice (I didn’t use the slotted broiling pan & yes some zucchini was too soft— Nevertheless my grandson loved it & wants to learn to make it). Also, I would prep more items before time to cookI did not have pretreated cheeses, etc).

Next time, I’ll exercise patience and wait for the zucchini to get good and brown. That said, it was a very tasty dish. We enjoyed it on a slice off a good loaf of bread.

Way to salty, even with no anchovy. I would make this again but use just a pinch of salt with the breading, none on the zucchini. It would be just as good without the herb de Provence or the olives. In fact, we liked it better without the olives as that just added more salt.

Like others, I found this topping to be delicious but exceptionally salty and over powering to the zucchinni. I also did take the suggestion to salt the zucchini prior to broiling and was able to get fairly crispy browned zucchini. I'm going to try it again tonight and use very thick slices of zucchini - OR I may try layering the thinner broiled slices with small amounts of topping sprinkled lightly between layers - Any thoughts - I'm open!

This was fantastic! I cut the zucchini in half lengthwise and de-seeded. Salted the halves and let them drain for half an hour. I rinsed the salt off and patted them dry, then put them on a big, pizza pan. I had pre-heated my oven with the intention of following directions to finish in a 500 degree oven. After broiling the cut side for about 6 minutes, I turned them over to find the skin side already beautifully brown! Filled with polenta, cheese and crumbs mixture, as directed. Delicious!