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Zucchini, Basil and Onion
Recipe by Pete Campbell
Try this delicious combination of zucchini, onion and basil. It's healthy, fun and will be your new go-to veggie dish!
- Steps
- Ingredients
Ingredients
Poached Zucchini
Charred Zucchini Purée
Caramelised Onion Purée
Lemon Myrtle Oil
To serve
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Steps
- Prepare a hibachi grill or a very hot grill pan.
- For the Poached Zucchini, slice the zucchinis in half lengthwise. Using a mandolin, slice one 3mm slice from the cut side of four zucchini halves. Place the slice back onto the zucchini and keep together. Set aside.
- Slice the remaining zucchini halves on the mandolin into as many 3mm sheets as possible and reserve these for the charred filling.
- Remove the zucchini slice from the halves then using a melon baller, scrape out the seeds to make zucchini ‘canoes.’
- Melt butter in a wide saucepan with 1 cup of water, whisking until boiling. Add the zucchini canoes and poach so they are soft but still hold their shape, about 3-5 minutes.
- Remove the canoes, then poach their corresponding zucchini sheets in the butter for 30-45 seconds. Set aside.
- For the Charred Zucchini Purée, heat 1 cup grapeseed oil in a small saucepan set over low heat. Add the garlic and cook gently until soft and caramelised. Meanwhile, lightly toss the zucchini slices in spices and oil and cook on the hibachi or very hot grill pan. Cook until heavily charred on both sides.
- Combine the charred zucchini, garlic and ½ of oyster sauce in the canister of a stick blender and blend to a smooth purée. Add a little water as needed to achieve a smooth but thick consistency. Taste and season with remaining oyster sauce and salt, to taste.
- For the Caramelised Onion Purée, thinly slice the onion and add to a frypan set over low heat. Drizzle with a 2 tablespoons oil and season with salt. Cook, until very soft and deeply caramelised, about 30 minutes.
- Deglaze the pan with wine for 10 seconds then transfer the contents of the pan to a canister. Blend to a smooth puree, adding a little water as needed to achieve a smooth but thick consistency. Season with salt and set aside.
- For the Lemon Myrtle Oil, combine all ingredients in a Thermomix and blend on speed 6 for 3 minutes to 40C. Strain mixture through a fine sieve lined with paper towel into a bowl set over ice.
- To serve, fill the zucchini canoes three quarters full with the charred zucchini purée, then add the caramelised onion purée to fill the remaining quarter. Use an offset spatula to smooth the filling to be perfectly flush with the top edge of the zucchini.
- Arrange basil leaves over the filling in an overlapping fashion, to completely cover.
- Top with the corresponding zucchini slice on top of the basil to ‘seal’ the zucchini. Drizzle with lemon myrtle oil and season with sea salt to finish.
