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Our Recipes: Barche di Zucchine Gialle con Bolognese

7/15/2025

July through September is the season for finding Yellow Zucchini. While they can be used in all sorts of ways, one of our favorites is to make Barche di Zucchine Gialle con Bolognese (Yellow Zucchini Boats with Bolognese Sauce). This is a very easy recipe and can be made with all sorts of topping variations: ratatouille, caramelized onions, eggplant or something simple like sliced tomatoes, basil and olives. Anything you can top a bruschetta with would also work well.

Yellow Zucchini (sometimes called Golden) are summer squash and have edible skins (unlike winter squash which are hard with inedible skins). Be aware that it might be incorrectly called something else, like Yellow Squash, which is fat at the bottom and tapers toward the top. Just be sure they are fairly straight and without a bent neck which makes a nice boat shape.

Ingredients

2 Yellow Zucchini
2 cups of Bolognese sauce
2 cups shredded mozzarella or fontina
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt, black pepper, oregano as needed.

Directions

Before cutting the zucchini, lay them down on a counter to see which side lies flat. Cut zucchini in half lengthwise from top to bottom.
Using a spoon, scoop out the seeds from all 4 halves.
Coat the flesh of the halves with Extra Virgin Olive Oil, then sprinkle with some salt, pepper and olive oil.
Spoon out the Bolognese sauce into the "hulls" of your little boats.
Spread shredded mozzarella cheese on top, then sprinkle some oregano on top. If you like a bit of heat, you can sprinkle some peperoncino (red pepper flakes) too.
Place on a sheet pan covered with foil and place in the oven for 35 minutes at 425F. If you like, you can put the broiler on for 1-2 minutes at the end to caramelize the cheese a bit more.

Serve your Boats with either a nice bottle of Chianti or if al fresco, a cooled bottle of Prosecco.

Boun appetito!

--Jerry Finzi

Comments

Summer Vegetable Risotto

7/15/2025

Comments

A fresh, healthy risotto for mid summer, when fresh zucchini, sweet corn and tomatoes are ripe and ready. First, read how to make a Perfect Risotto here.

The basic approach to this dish is to make the risotto as per our recipe, then add cooked veggies either on top, or cook them directly in the risotto during the last 10--15 minutes of cooking time.

Ingredients:

Our Perfect Risotto (Allow 1 hour to make the risotto, cook the following vegetables within that hour, or make them ahead and keep warm.)
2 small zucchini, cut into 1/4" thick slices
2 handfuls of cherry or small pear tomatoes
1 ear of cooked corn, kernels cut off or 1-11oz can of sweet corn niblets
sprinkle of oregano
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional if you like a bit of heat)
olive oil
2 garlic cloves, "shirts" removed
juice of lemon, to taste

Directions:
Note: You can also add the vegetables during the last 10 minutes of cooking the risotto, but I think sauteing the vegetables separately adds a lot more flavor.

Drizzle 2 tablespoons of olive oil into a saute pan. Heat on medium until shimmering.
Toss in the garlic cloves and saute in the oil until you start to smell the garlic, then remove and dispose. (This is how Italians flavor the oil with just the right amount of garlic flavor). Optional: You can add red pepper flakes to flavor the oil with the garlic.
Next, toss in the zucchini, corn and tomatoes and sprinkle with salt, black pepper and oregano to taste. Saute while tossing or stirring occasionally until the zucchini are tender and the tomatoes are blistered.
When the risotto is ready, place a portion into a bowl and add the vegetables on top.
To brighten the dish, squeeze a bit of lemon juice on top of the veggies and risotto,
You may also add slivers of Parmigiano Reggiano to top off the dish.

I suggest pairing this with laid back Chianti or Primativo and mangiare al fiori ("eating with flowers"). The phrase "al fresco" used in the U.S. is not commonly used in Italy, but "al fresco" can refer to someone in jail. (Go figure!)

Buon appetito!

--Jerry Finzi

Comments

Cucina

Our Recipes: Barche di Zucchine Gialle con Bolognese

Summer Vegetable Risotto

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