Can we really call this zucchini carpaccio? Does that make me sound like a wannabe restaurant menu in Napa trying to compete with the greats with made-up names? A cheesy culinary student’s idea of sounding fancy? Maybe, but I can’t figure out a name that describes “raw” and “fresh” when talking about zucchini.
Well, whatever we call it, it was an experiment that could have gone either way and it turned out delicious. I would definitely make this again. It was a great summer salad, refreshing, and easy to put together. The key was that the zucchini was at the prime of its season and not bitter at all and there were no seeds really to speak of.
Zucchini Carpaccio
2 long green zucchini
fresh ricotta (I used Dos Lunas raw ricotta)
handful of fresh basil and mint, rough chopped
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
good salt and pepper
Slice the zucchini very thinly in rounds. If you have a mandolin, even better. If you have a thin blade on your cuisinart, that’d work too. Line a colander with doubled up paper towels and place all the zucchini on the paper towels. Zucchini sweats a lot, so replace the towels as you go and stir up the zucchini on the towels to make sure all of them get soaked up. Use paper towels to also pat the zucchini.
In a flat serving dish, place the zucchini in 2-3 layers deep. Place chunks of ricotta all over the zucchini, then spread the herbs over the top, then drizzle olive oil, malden seas salt (or a big flakey salt), and pepper. I let this chill in the fridge for just about 1 hour before serving. If you feel you need a little acidity, squeeze a tiny bit of lemon juice over the top. I was concerned about making this ahead of time because I thought it would get wilted and the flavors would lose their balance, but it held up pretty well the next day (but not the best).
Salts Kitchen 