One of my favorite summer vegetables is the zucchini also known as courgettes or summer squash. They are one of my favorites both because I like them and because they are always nice and cheap while in season. This weekend I finally noticed the locally grown zucchini at the farmers market and I picked up a bunch of them already knowing what I wanted to make first. I had come across a recipe for a summer squash and farro gratin on Cooking with Michelle that combined the zucchini with a whole grain. I have really been enjoying whole grains lately and I liked the sound of combining the zucchini with the farro, and the melted cheesy goodness was just the icing on the cake.
Sometimes I find myself worrying about the size of ingredients and this time I was thinking that it would be nice if the zucchini was cut to a size that was similar to that of the farro. Since farro is pretty small I decided to just grate the zucchini which also ended up being a lot easier than dicing it. Since the zucchini was grated into such small pieces I figured that I could just add it to the gratin without sauteing it first. I went with equal parts green and yellow courgettes to add some extra colour in the dish. Having to cook the farro, make the bechamel sauce , saute the onions and finally bake the gratin took a bit of time but it was pretty easy and the results were well worth the effort. The zucchini and farro gratin turned out really well! It was nice and creamy and ooey gooey and cheesy and good. The grated zucchini worked really well in the gratin and the farro added nice chewiness while the panko topping brought a nice crunch to finish it off. Despite the fact that is served this as a side dish I went back for seconds! I had a jar of salsa that needed finishing and I tried serving it on the leftover zucchini and farro gratin and it worked surprisingly well adding a nice touch of heat. What a great start to zucchini season!
Zucchini and Farro Gratin
ingredients
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 onion (chopped)
- 2 cloves garlic (chopped)
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 1 cup milk
- 2 cups zucchini (grated)
- 2 cups cooked farro (or brown rice or other whole grain)
- 1/4 cup parmigiano reggiano (grated)
- 3/4 cup gruyere (grated)
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 cup bread crumbs (I used panko)
- 1/4 cup parmigiano reggiano (grated)
directions
- Heat the oil in a pan.
- Add the onion and saute until tender, about 5-7 minutes.
- Add the garlic and saute until fragrant, about 1 minute and set aside.
- Melt the butter in a sauce pan.
- Whisk in the flour and continue whisking until if turns a light golden brown.
- Whisk in the milk simmer until it thickens.
- Mix the onions, white sauce, zucchini, farro, parmigiano reggiano and gruyere and season with salt and pepper.
- Pour the mixture into an 8 inch square baking pan and top with a mixture of bread crumbs and parmigiano reggiano.
- Bake in a preheated 350F/180C oven until golden brown and bubbling, about 30 minutes.
I love it, Kevin! Zucchini like this would be great!
Looks hearty, healthy and delicious! I love the combination 🙂
I keep seeing recipes for farro, and have yet to try it. I'm sure I would love it, so I'm not sure what's holding me back. I cook with zucchini all the time in the summer, so maybe this is the recipe that will get me to try it! Adding the creamy, cheesy flavors sounds killer good 🙂
Hi, just stumbled upon yr blog. All yr food looks really adventurous and fantastic!
You have made farro once or twice before, haven't you!! I'll have to use brown rice, though!! I like the gratin idea to give even more crunch to this dish!!!
sounds lovely…must try this..u think broken wheat would instead of the brown rice ?
My grater is my friend. I use it whenever I want my vegetable to "melt" into whatever it is I'm cooking. This also makes it the perfect vegetable cloaking device for those picky eaters in your life. 🙂
Thinks looks delish. I have some zucchini and squash to use up and I know I'd love this. I'm going to try with quinoa.
A perfect combo! I love farro!
Cheers,
RosA
My neighbor just brought me a bunch of zucchini…now I know what to do with it.
Thats so healthy and love the zucchini in it!
This looks to me almost like faro and zucchini mac and cheese. You really can't get better than that!
What a great site you have! Love the photography. This zucchini gratin looks good too, I'm thinking of trying this soon…
that looks fantastic!!
This is the first time I see a recipe using Farro (Not common in Aus)- Learned something new today!
Great recipe!
looks real yummy kevin! x
Deliziosa questa tua ricetta, complimenti anche per il tuo blog ricco di contenuti.
Ciao Daniela.
I love gratins because they are the ultimate comfort foods and this one is actually good for you! Awesome!
I would guess the cheese makes all the difference.
I only use farro flour, I have never eat it as a whole cereal. I have to try your recipe because it sounds so yummy and… fondant!
Mmm… cheese and zucchini and gratin — everything wonderful in one dish!
Arch: I have not had broken wheat but it looks like it would work. I am going to have to look for some now.
So happy to see some farro. We had it at a food fundraiser a couple of weeks ago, and it was too good.
Wow this looks delicious! Anything with a crusty topping is bound to be good. I've seen a lot of great farro recipes lately, I'll have to keep my eye out for the stuff.
My current favourite ingredient is zucchini and this is a great way to enjoy it! yum yum!
This looks delicious-I can't wait to try it! I hope its ok that I added a link of your cooking blog on my own that I just recently started…I think you're great!
I was traveling when you posted this so didn't see you had made my recipe – glad you enjoyed it!