More Zucchini? Grate!

My friend Elizabeth just left two of the most gorgeous zucchini squashes on my porch. Between the two they weigh in at close to 7 pounds. The ruler is there for scale.  Elizabeth did send me a picture in which she used her glasses to give an idea as to the size of these babies, but WOW. These are some big zucchinis!  And, I can report that their flavor is just as big.  Yum, even just chomping a raw slice.  Thank you, Elizabeth!

So, now what? My first step was to do some online research to see if one can successfully freeze spiraled zucchini since I recently acquired that magic machine and love it. The good news is, yes!  Click HERE for a link to a page giving instructions for such. I will be doing this will at least a pound or two of these suckers.  🙂 Disclaimer: I have not tried this technique yet and other websites claim that zuke noodles don’t reheat well, but I am willing to give it a try.

But, in the meantime, I have all this zucchini and it is so hot out today (over 90 F) that I don’t want to cook.  Tomorrow I will do one of my favorite easy ways to prepare any type of summer squash: Slice and sprinkle with with Penzeys Italian Herb Mix before steaming until just soft. My husband, Mr. tons of butter and salt man, loves it like this WITHOUT adding any butter or salt!!!!

But, I digress. I said “grate” in the title and I found two recipes that use grated zuke that look fabulous, and also found a number of sites that say freezing grated zuke works just fine. So, I grated enough zuke to make this recipe by Julia Child and then prepped and froze it. I am also going to try THIS recipe that also uses shredded zucchini in the next few days since I have plenty of zucchini. 🙂

So, here is what I did based on what a few different sites suggested: I weighed out 2 pounds of zucchini, cut it into food processor-sized pieces for grating, and grated away.

I then spread the results out over two cookie sheets, sprinkled and tossed a bit with 1/2  tsp or so of salt over both trays, let it sit for a few minutes, and then, in 4 batches, put the shredded zuke onto a clean kitchen towel, pulled it closed, and squeeze out the liquid.

I ended up with two 12 ounce bags to pop in the freezer.  I’ll find out how it works when defrosted for use in one or both of the above recipes calling for grated zucchini.  And, if I try either or both with freshly grated zucchini in the meantime, I’ll keep you updated. It will be great!