This weekend, I was inspired by the seafood I prepared for myself and created fish-like "scales" using thinly sliced zucchini so my husband Lulu, who is a vegetarian, could enjoy a similarly-themed meal.
First, I steamed thinly sliced and shredded zucchini. Then I cooked finely chopped morel mushrooms with garlic. Shredded zucchini, preserved lemons and the mushrooms became the base of the flavoring for the goat cheese filling. I reshaped a log of goat cheese mixture and dressed it with the zucchini slices. I added a little glamour to the dish with the exquisite white truffle oil we received from our friend Casey at Pastamoré. How luxurious does this sound?
I preserved Meyer lemons in several jars a few months ago and it’s now time to enjoy every bit of them. This is the very first time of the season I’m using them. You could use them to flavor pasta, cold soup, sauces, salad dressing, dips, stews and many more dishes. Stay tuned for more recipes with preserved lemons.
1. Info for Zucchini Goat Cheese Recipe
- Cook Time: unavailable
- Total Time: unavailable
- Servings: 10
- Calories: unavailable
2. Ingredients for Zucchini Goat Cheese Recipe
- 1 (6-ounce) log goat cheese, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vegetable oil (or any neutral oil)
- 1 clove garlic, finely minced
- 1 teaspoon medley peppercorns, coarsely ground
- 4 fresh morel mushrooms
- 3 tablespoons curly parsley, finely chopped
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon xanthan gum
- 1 teaspoon liquid lecithin
- 2 tablespoons white truffle oil, + extra for drizzling
- 1 preserved lemon
- juice of half a lemon, freshly squeezed and pulp removed
- 4 small zebra zucchini (or 1 large regular zucchini)
- 4 cups baby spinach leaves
3. Directions:
- Trim the zucchini. Using a mandoline, shred one whole zucchini and slice the rest crosswise very thin (if using one regular zucchini, shred ¼ of it and thinly slice the rest. Place the zucchini in a steamer basket. Fill the steamer with water. Bring the water to a boil and reduce the heat to medium-high. Cover and steam for 10-15 minutes. The zucchini should be soft and tender but still firm (not falling apart). Remove from the steamer. Cover with ice cubes and let cool to room temperature. Season with salt and pepper.
- Finely chop the mushrooms. In a small pan, heat the vegetable oil. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the mushrooms and cook until well coated in the garlic. Add the parsley and immediately turn off the heat. Season with salt and pepper. Let cool to room temperature.
- Separate the pulp from the rind. Cut the preserved lemon rind into thin julienned strips. Reserve 1 teaspoon rind for garnish.
- In a small bowl, combine the xanthan gum, liquid lecithin and white truffle oil. Stir well. Note: This is the thickening agent for the goat cheese.
- Add the pulp to a mortar and pestle. Add salt and white truffle oil mixture. Stir well.
- Pat dry the zucchini in paper towels.
- Using a spatula, whip the goat cheese to soften it. Add the mushrooms, shredded zucchini and the thickening agent and mix until even. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper, if necessary.
- Place the goat cheese on a large sheet of plastic wrap and form a log. Tightly wrap. Chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
- Line your work surface with a large sheet of plastic wrap. Drizzle with white truffle oil. Sprinkle with the reserved julienned preserved lemons and pepper. Cover with the zucchini slices, creating fish-like "scales". Place the unwrapped, chilled goat cheese on top. Wrap the formed log and store in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
- When you’re ready to serve, cover a serving platter with spinach. Cut slices of the flavored goat cheese and place them on top.
- Serve with a preserved lemon dressing and toasted bread on the side, if you like.
- Bon appétit!
