This is a deliciously fresh, plant-based take on the classic carpaccio. Swap out the meat and fish for beautiful, thin slices of verdant zucchini squash. This is a dish of simple ingredients, whose sum transforms the humble into something elegant and flavorsome.
I’ve served zucchini carpaccio as a first course to rave reviews at events, dinner parties and rustic/classy “glamping” trips, but personally, my favorite way to enjoy this carpaccio is for lunch. It’s charming, light and satisfying, especially with a cool glass of Sauvignon Blanc or Viognier and a hunk of Focaccia bread.
Zucchini carpaccio is excellent for times when you feel like adding a little panache to a meal, without a lot of effort. This dish is surprisingly simple to throw together. The key to perfection is to use the freshest ingredients you can get your hands on, think homegrown, farmers market and organic. Having a hand-held mandoline for slicing the zucchini into thin, even sized “coins” is also a good idea but not a deal breaker, it’ll just take a little more elbow grease and a few extra minutes to bring it together.
The next time you think zucchini, save the zoodles and roasting for another day and try your hand at zucchini carpaccio.
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Zucchini Carpaccio
(5 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
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- Yield: 4–6 as appetizer or light lunch 1x
Ingredients
- 1–2 medium/large zucchini
- 8 oz ricotta cheese, store-bought or homemade
- 1/4 –1/2 cup fresh herbs (parsley, chervil, thyme, basil), rough chopped. Use one or several types of herbs.
- 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 whole lemon, fresh squeezed
- Several pinches of sea salt, divided
- A few pinches of freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 cup toasted pine nuts, *optional
Instructions
Mise en place (gather and prep ingredients)
- Lightly toast pine nuts in a dry pan over med/high heat. Gently move them around in the pan until they take on a light brown color and begin to smell nutty, approx. 3 minutes. Keep an eye on the toasting, it can go from toasted to burnt in seconds. Remove from the heat, pour into a heat-proof dish, and set aside to cool to room temp.
- Mix ricotta with a few pinches of salt and freshly ground black pepper. Set aside.
- Lightly wash, dry, and rough chop herbs. Set aside.
- Cut lemon in half. Set aside.
- Using a handheld mandoline slicer on the thinnest setting, carefully slice “coins” of zucchini. If you do not have a mandoline, hand-cut thin zucchini coins. Set aside.
To Assemble and Serve
- Begin laying zucchini coins starting from the outside of your serving dish, in overlapping, concentric circles, until the whole dish is covered. I usually only do one layer but if you prefer a heartier serving, you can certainly do two layers, more layers than this will take away from the delicate nature of the dish.
- Squeeze the juice from ½ -1 lemon, evenly over the zucchini, being careful not to get any seeds onto the carpaccio.
- Drizzle the whole dish evenly with olive oil.
- Drop dollops or quenelles of ricotta cheese evenly over the zucchini. Do not crowd or completely cover the zucchini. The ricotta is playing a supporting role in this recipe and should not overpower the flavor or look of the zucchini.
- Sprinkle with the pine nuts, then fresh herbs.
- Sprinkle evenly with a few pinches of sea salt. Serve and enjoy.
Notes
The carpaccio can be made a few hours in advance and kept in the refrigerator. Remove from the refrigerator 10-15 minutes before serving to take the chill off.
Serve zucchini carpaccio in a large serving dish or platter for family-style meals or use individual appetizer-sized plates for a more refined presentation.
1 thought on “Zucchini Carpaccio”
This is perfect to share with all my gardener friends who are harvesting loads of zucchini right now! People are always looking for something new at this time of year when they are tired of roasting, sautéing or making zucchini bread!