Possible Allergy warning – please read all recipes carefully
and be aware of any allergies or sensitivities that may affect your health and well-being

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Please Fave the original Here

A labor of love from !

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Please Fave the Original Submission here. - https://www.furaffinity.net/view/17795538/

...Skip the pasta, that zucchini is the main star in this one :P

From vrghr !

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Vrghr was recently honored to be included on the cover of bodbloat's premier issue of PUMPZ magazine, found here: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/17768088/ .

Of course, if wuff is going to be honored in this way, you know Vrghr is going to have to whip up something special in response to it!

Well, this is one recipe that definitely qualifies as "Special".

Caution: This is NOT a beginner's recipe! There are 3 sauces done from scratch. A '3-tray' dredging station. 2 different baking requirements, and significant prep needed just to get all the pieces ready to assemble. You're going to completely fill up a 4-burner stove and be looking for more heating areas before you're done.

That's not to say no one should try this. Just be sure you know what you're getting into, before you leap.

This features one of the super-colossal giant-sized Zucchini squash Vrghr's roommate received from one of their church buddies. And when wuff says "Large" he means it! Just look at the size of these monsters: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/17794539/

When deciding on what to make from one of these, Vrghr needed to take into account 3 traits of this particular squash:

1) They give up a LOT of liquid when they cook; The more squash you use, the wetter things get.
2) They don't particularly have much texture; to be honest, they're a bit 'flaccid' under most cooking conditions.
3) They don't have a particularly strong flavor; the flavor is nice! But subtle.

To address these, wuff employed several techniques:

1) Salt the sliced squash and let it give up some of it's moisture, the bake it on a cooling rack, so any drips fall away, and use the pre-baked slices in the final dish, when most of the liquid is already cooked out.
2) Use a flour, egg, and panko crumb coating, then bake it until the coating turns crisp. To make sure the coating is even crispier, add oil to the panko breading to substitute for the lack of hot oil in a pan-frying setting.
3) Layer flavors all through the preparation; in the seasoning, in the breading, and with sauces. Bring complexity with compatible fillings; spinach, tomato, cheese. Kick things up with an unexpected addition - a layer of pepperoni between the slices!

Vrghr used the idea of a Lasagna, with layers of Marinara, Spinach, Béchamel, Meat and cheese. Thus, there is a layer of sautéed spinach coated with a 3-cheese Béchamel mixture (Seasoned Goat cheese, Parmigiana, and Feta), a layer with pepperoni coated with a basil-highlighted Marinara, and more marinara. Then it gets topped with a bubbly cheese topping. And everything is plated in a pool of the Marinara plus the Béchamel cheese sauce, and topped with more of the same.

The baby spinach is kicked up with butter-sautéed shallots and garlic, along with some salt and pepper (Vrghr nearly ate it all up by itself! YUM!).

Multiple cheeses in the Béchamel along with more roasted garlic and shallots, give a strong, complex foundation. The Marinara brings many traditional Italian seasonings, along with a healthy portion of sweet, fresh basil, to complement the squash. In addition, there are fennel seeds, toasted briefly and then crushed in a mortar and pestle to bring out the fennel flavor and uniformly spread the light licorice fennel flavors around.

Wuff can't say too much about the Pasta. The sauce of sun-dried tomatoes, pesto, wine, olive oil, and other ingredients was fantastic. But despite the "gourmet" label, the store-bought ravioli were, "meh". A bit tough, and nearly non-existent flavors instead of the "spinach Florentine" as advertised. Wuffy wanted to go with a spinach-basil noodle, but none of the merchants had any in stock. Boo!

However, the finished Zucchini were everything wuff had hoped for! Crisp, crunchy, flavorful coating to give texture to the tender squash within. Substantial "bites" from the thick slices. Wonder complex flavors from the spinach/cheese and pepperoni/marinara layers infusing the squash above and below. And the cheese and Marinara sauces were wonderful complements and companions to the veggies.

Ahhhhh! It took over 4 hours in the kitchen, but it was so worth it!

This one huge Zucchini made 4 stacks, with a couple slices left over. One stack easily feeds 1 hungry fur as a main course. The sauces made enough for about half the cheese and 1/3 of the other two to be left over for future dishes. Spinach got all used up in this one.

Zucchini Stacks
For the spinach:

10 ounces baby spinach
1/2 tablespoon minced garlic
new line 1 tablespoon minced shallots
1 tablespoon butter
1 quarter teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon to 1 quarter teaspoon omnivore salt new

For the Marinara sauce:

1 28 ounce can San Marzano tomatoes
3 shallots, minced
1 red bell pepper, minced
2 jalapeños, minced
2 Tablespoons of butter
2 teaspoons gourmet garden Italian herbs paste
2 tablespoons garlic minced
1 teaspoon ground Ancho Peppers
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1/2-3/4 cup red Italian wine
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 bunch, about 2 ounces, fresh basil chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons toasted, ground fennel seeds
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 to 2 teaspoons omnivore salt
1 teaspoon celery seed
2 tablespoons tomato paste

For the 3-Cheese Béchamel sauce:

3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon granulated garlic
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon minced shallots
1/2 TSP omnivore salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
3 - 4 tablespoons grated Parmesan Reggiano cheese
5 ounces Feta cheese crumbles
2 ounces garlic herb seasoned goat cheese
1/2 pint half and half
Milk, as necessary, to thin the sauce (approximately 1/2 Cup)
Salt and pepper, to taste

For the Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto sauce:

2 tablespoons Tuscan herb butter
1 tablespoon butter
3 teaspoons pesto paste
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/3 cup white wine
2 tablespoons Masala wine
2 tablespoons sun-dried tomatoes, minced
+ Selected pasta (Recommended – Spinach-Basil Linguini or spaghetti)

For the zucchini:

1 super-colossal giant-sized Zucchini squash
~24 slices of Pepperoni

(For the egg wash)

3 eggs
1/3 Cup buttermilk

(For the breading)

1 cup Italian flavor bread crumbs
1 cup Panko crumbs
1/3 cup grated parmigiano cheese
~3-4 Tbs Olive Oil

(For the seasoned flour dredge)

3-4 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons omnivore salt
1 teaspoon Ancho pepper
1 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions:

For the Spinach:

In a medium saucepan, melt the tablespoon of butter over high heat. Add the minced garlic and minced shallots, and saute until the garlic is fragrant and the shallots are beginning to become translucent, about 2 minutes.
Gradually add the baby spinach by hands full, allowing each addition to wilt down slightly before adding the next. Stir to coat all of the spinach with the seasoned butter.
When all of the spinach has has wilted, reduce heat to medium-high and allow to simmer until almost all of the liquid that the spinach will give up has evaporated.
Reduce heat to low, and hold until ready to assemble the zucchini stacks.

For the 3-Cheese Béchamel Sauce:

Melt the butter in a medium sauce pan. Add the garlic and shallots, and saute until the shallots are translucent and the garlic fragrant.
Add the flour, whisking in until fully incorporated. Sprinkle with the nutmeg, granulated garlic, salt and pepper. Allow to cook until it achieves a ′blonde′ color.
Add the half n half, and whisk continuously until it comes to a simmer and thickens. You may need to add some extra milk to keep it relatively thin.
Whisk in the cheeses. Allow to return to a low slimmer, and let all the cheeses melt as much as they will. Adjust thickness with more milk, as necessary.
Strain the mixture through a fine sieve, and keep warm on lowest heat until ready for the Zucchini.

For the Marinara Sauce:

Melt the butter in a large sauce pan. When hot, add the minced shallots, jalapenos, garlic, and red bell pepper. Allow to saute until the shallots are translucent and everything has sweated down a bit (about 6-8 minutes).
Add the remaining ingredients, except for the brown sugar. Mash the tomatoes by hand as you pour them in with their juice. Stir to combine, and cover with a splatter screen.
Reduce heat to medium, and allow sauce to simmer until it reduces by about a quarter, stirring occasionally.
Taste, and if necessary, add the brown sugar and stir in (some tomatoes are sweet enough not to need it).
With a stick blender, blend the sauce until mostly smooth.
Reduce heat to low and hold for Zucchini.
For the Sun-Dried Tomato/Pesto Sauce and Past:
Mince up 4-6 sun-dried tomatoes.
In a small sauce pan, heat the butter and Tuscan-Herb butter until melted.
Add the remaining ingredients, and allow to cook over medium heat until the tomatoes plump up and infuse the sauce with their flavor. Reduce heat to low, and lit simmer for about ½ hour.
Boil the pasta until just al dente. Drain, but do not rinse.
Add about 1/2-3/4 of the sauce to the pasta and toss to evenly coat everything.

For the Zucchini:

Slice the zucchini into 3/4 inch segments (Vrghr pealed the skin in alternate sections for appearance, but this isn't required)
Salt liberally, place on drying rack and cover with a baking sheet. Weight it down and let the liquid drain while making sauces.

After about an hour, rinse and pat the slices completely dry.

In a medium bowl, whisk together all the ingredients for the seasoned flour dredge. In another medium bowl, crack the eggs and whisk in the buttermilk. In a large bowl, whisk together the seasoned bread crumbs, Panko crumbs, and cheese. Gradually trickle in the olive oil, mixing it in with a whisk or fork until all the oil is distributed completely, and the breading takes on a uniform heavy, grainy consistency.

Dredge the slices first in the seasoned flour, knocking off the extra flour, then the egg/buttermilk wash, being sure to evenly coat all the surfaces. Finally, dredge into the batter, knocking or scraping loose any extra breading (you want an even coat, but not thick and clumpy).

Place the slices gently on an oven-proof cooling rack over a cookie sheet. Don′t shift them around and rub off the breading. Bake at 375 degrees for about 25 minutes.

Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly for the breading to harden a bit.

Reduce the oven temperature to 275-300.

Spray the bottom of a medium casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray
Each stack will be 3 slices high, so count your slices and divide by 3 for the number of stacks to make.

Place the largest slices in the bottom of the casserole dish. Divide the sauteed spinach evening on top of the bottom slices. Spoon a generous tablespoon (or 2) of the cheese sauce over the spinach.

Cover with the middle slice. Cover that evenly with slices of pepperoni . Spoon a tablespoon or two of the marinara sauce over the pepperoni.

Cover with the top slice. Spoon another tablespoon or two of the marinara sauce over the top. Sprinkle a generous portion of grated Italian Cheese blend on top of the red sauce.

Roll up some tubes of tinfoil and, if necessary, build supporting walls around your stacks to keep them from sliding over in the oven. Don′t press the foil tightly all the way around the stacks – just enough to ′encourage′ them no to slide over.

Carefully place the casserole dish into the oven and bake for another 15-20 minutes, until thoroughly heated through.
Switch the oven to broil, and broil until the cheese on top is lightly toasted.

Place a swath of Marinara sauce on a plate. Add a dollop of the cheese sauce onto the marinara.

CAREFULLY move a stack of the zucchini to the pool of sauce. Top it with another tablespoon or so of both the red and white sauces, and sprinkle lightly with grated parmigiana reggiano cheese.

Side with the pasta, and spoon some of the remaining Tomato-Pesto sauce over it. Sprinkle with Parmigiana cheese

Optional: Provide small bowls of the Marinara and Cheese sauces if the guests would like extra sauce.

DEVOUR

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