Feel Freda Talk

Hello there!

This post is from 3 months ago, but I never shared it so here it is! LOL Enjoy 😊

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This weekend, I spent time in the kitchen coming up with some recipes for ingredients I needed to use before they went bad. I had 3 medium zucchinis in the fridge that would’ve been thrown out today if I hadn’t used them for these recipes.

The first way I used the zucchini was with ricotta cheese – such an underrated ingredient if you ask me! I could eat ricotta on a spoon right from the container. Let’s get into it!

Zucchini w/ Ricotta

This recipe is something that came to me based on ingredients I had that were about to go bad, but it’s also my 2 favorite things combined; ricotta cheese and zucchini.

I’ve had other variations of this recipe with other veggies and even pasta that I added to it, but this is by far my favorite version because it’s simple.

You might be wondering what the other ingredients are for! There’s a second dish I’ll be sharing with you below 😊

I stirred it twice; once before the seasonings and once after, but I realized after I did that that I should’ve just waited until I added the seasonings. This is after it’s been stirred with the ricotta and seasonings after baking for the first 10 minutes.

The pieces that were cut into larger pieces actually still had a crunch to them. I had added some round pieces to this dish because I realized just 1 zucchini wasn’t enough.

The taste the ricotta gives this dish is unlike anything else I’ve ever had. I couldn’t believe how delicious it was!

If you’d like to make this recipe, here it is!

Ingredients:

• 2 medium-large zucchinis
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 4 tbsp ricotta
• salt, to taste
• pepper, to taste
• garlic powder, to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425°F.
2. While the oven is preheating, cut the zucchini. I chose to cut this one in larger pieces, so as not to overcook them.
3. Drizzle the olive oil in the bottom of a casserole dish, preferably square in shape. Add the zucchini pieces to the casserole dish and stir to coat.
4. Add the ricotta to the dish. I divided it up into 4 dollops in each corner.
5. Bake for 10 minutes.
6. Remove the dish from the oven after 10 minutes and add the salt, pepper, and garlic powder, to taste. However much your heart tells you to add is how much you should add! Stir well to combine.
7. Add the dish to the oven and bake for another 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Enjoy!

Zucchini with Breadcrumbs and Cheese

This recipe was also something I came up with based on ingredients I needed to use, but also ingredients that I enjoy eating. It was very simple to throw together and it tasted even better!

I made both dishes at the same time, side by side, on the top rack of the oven. They were done at the same time, which made my life easier.

After 10 minutes, it looks like this. I added more cheese and more breadcrumbs to the top before baking it again for 15 more minutes. My mouth is watering just looking at these pictures!

This is fully baked and look at how golden and delicious it looks! These pieces were crunchy because of the cheese, but the flavoring of the breadcrumbs was perfect. Nothing else needed to be added to this.

Ingredients:

• 2 medium zucchinis
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/4 cup shredded cheese, I used a blend of asiago, romano, and parmesan cheeses
• 1/4 cup Italian breadcrumbs

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425℉.
2. While the oven is preheating, slice the zucchinis into rounds.
3. Add the butter and olive oil to a casserole dish. I used a 13×9.
4. Arrange the zucchini rounds as a single layer, if possible, and top with breadcrumbs and shredded cheese, reserving some for later.
5. Bake at 425℉ for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and carefully stir/flip zucchini.
6. Add the remaining (or extra) cheese and breadcrumbs to the top and bake again at 425℉ for 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Enjoy!