Dishing Up the Dirt

Zucchini Butter

A very lovely stranger was shopping from us at the farmers market this past weekend and proclaimed that they were “so f*cking tired” of zucchini. This guy was curious when our winter squash would be available and I had to bite my tongue a bit.  I’m not one for confrontation and hell, this guy can be “so f*cking tired” of whatever he wants to.  I totally get it. Eating seasonally can be tough. And to be honest, our winter squash harvest is just a week away so it will be available soon but we don’t sell it until way later because it’s still summer and winter squash can be eaten for WAY longer than the summer bounty. It would have been a good opportunity to promote my cookbook or the blog for the abundance of zucchini recipes available in both but I opted not too. However, it occurred to me that you all might be getting a little uninspired with the summer harvest and zucchini in particular can get old. So I’m here today to introduce you to the best thing since sliced bread. Enter zucchini butter–the condiment you didn’t know you were missing! This buttery spread tastes great on toast (which is the only way we’ve eaten it so far). But I can tell you that this will be spread onto pizza dough, grilled eggplant rounds, and spooned into savory oatmeal with a fried egg in the morning (tomorrow!). I can already tell that this is a condiment that I will be missing in the dead of winter so I’m planning on making large batches before zucchini season is over to freeze. I’m not 100 precent sure if it will freeze well but I don’t see why not? Seriously though, this is delicious and I hope you all love it as much as we do.

Zucchini season, you aren’t half bad and I for one, am not ready to say goodbye.

Cheers to the harvest. xoxoxo

Zucchini Butter

Prep Time: 15 minutes    Cook Time: 20 minutes    Serves: 2 cups

  • 2 pounds zucchini or assorted summer squash
  • 1/4 cup unsalted butter
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1/2 teaspoons sumac (optional but adds a bright note)
  • salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

  1. Coarsely grate the zucchini with a box grater or with the grating attachment on your food processor.
  2. Ring out most of the liquid from the zucchini with a dish towel.
  3. In a medium sized deep skillet over medium-high heat add the butter. Once the butter is starting to melt add the garlic, thyme, sumac (if using) and grated zucchini. Cook, stirring often, until the zucchini reaches a spreadable consistency, about 15-18 minutes.  The mixture will still have plenty of texture but will be more "jam like" after cooking. If you scorch the bottom of the mixture turn the flame down but don't stress! Just stir those crispy burnt bits into the butter for added flavor! If need be add a touch of water or white wine to deglaze the pan. The zucchini will hold its bright green color and slowly caramelize into a nice vegetable jam.
  4. Use this "butter"on everything from spreading on toast to pizza or stirring into your morning oatmeal (for a savory version) or stirred into pasta for a lovely sauce.
  5. Store the butter in a glass jar in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

Notes

*This recipe is adapted from Food52 and TheKitchn *Use this recipe as a guide and adjust measurements and ingredients as necessary


Leave a Reply

8 thoughts on “Zucchini Butter

  1. Judith says:

    Andrea to the rescue!

  2. James says:

    Simple and interesting, I’ll try it!

  3. anna says:

    how long does this stay good for?

    1. Andrea says:

      two weeks in an airtight container in the fridge!

  4. Tara says:

    Only 2 pounds of zucchini? Dammit! lol

  5. Tess says:

    I made something like this last year and froze it, but it tends to get a bit watery when frozen. Maybe you could reheat it and let it cool down again. I don’t know. But I agree; it’s so delicious!

  6. Melissa Keyser says:

    I’ve been making this recipe (from theKitchn) for years, and it’s my fav way to use up a ton of summer squash! I love smearing it on crusty toast along with ricotta.

  7. Naomi says:

    I’ve frozen it before, it works perfectly! It’s so nice to be able to pull out a jar and defrost it for the week. I put it on literally everything.

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