What Can I Make with Tomato and Zucchini?
Tomato and zucchini is the late-summer glut pair, and roasting is the answer to both. The strongest match is Sheet-Pan Ratatouille with Crispy Garlic, and Custrd also matched Greek briam, a Mediterranean vegetable tian, Egyptian mahshi and garlic parmesan zucchini with tomatoes. Six tested recipes.
Top recipeSheet-Pan Ratatouille with Crispy Garlic
Charred eggplant, zucchini, and tomatoes roasted together with garlic, herbs, and a flash of balsamic. Weeknight French comfort that tastes like a Provençal garden in 20 minutes.
Ingredients
- •eggplant, cut into 3/4-inch cubes
- •zucchini, cut into 3/4-inch half-moons
- •cherry tomatoes, halved
- •garlic cloves, sliced thin
- •fresh thyme or Herbes de Provence
- •balsamic vinegar
- •olive oil
Steps
- 1Toss eggplant, zucchini, tomatoes, garlic, and thyme with olive oil, salt, and pepper on a sheet pan.
- 2Spread in a single layer. Roast at 425°F for 15 minutes, stirring halfway through.
- 3Vegetables should be tender with charred edges and garlic golden and crispy.
- 4Drizzle balsamic vinegar over the top and toss gently.
- 5Taste and adjust salt and pepper. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Why this works
These two are the classic pair of the late-summer garden, and they share exactly the same weakness: both are over ninety percent water, and both taste of very little until that water is dealt with. Nearly every dish built on them is really a technique for concentrating them.
Roasting is the most reliable method. Spread out on a hot sheet pan with oil, both vegetables lose a large share of their water to evaporation while their surfaces brown, and what is left behind is far more intensely flavoured. Crowding the pan defeats this completely — the released steam has nowhere to go and you end up with pale, watery vegetables sitting in a puddle. Use the largest tray you have, and use two if necessary.
A tian arranges the same idea vertically. Overlapping thin slices standing on edge expose a great deal of surface area to the oven while staying packed tightly enough to hold their shape, so you get concentration and structure at once. Briam does the same in a flatter, more rustic form.
The division of labour between them is worth noticing. Tomato is the one bringing flavour: it is acidic and unusually rich in glutamates, which is why it reads as savoury. Zucchini brings almost none of that, but it brings body, a mild sweetness and a texture that holds together. Tomato seasons zucchini far more than the reverse, which is why a dish of zucchini alone needs a lot of help and a dish with tomato in it usually does not.
Custrd matches your tomatoes and zucchini against tested recipes and shows what else each one needs.
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Open the recipe finder →Frequently asked
Why do my roasted vegetables come out watery?
The pan is crowded. Both tomato and zucchini release a lot of water, and if the tray is packed that steam cannot escape, so the vegetables braise instead of roasting. Spread them in a single layer with space between the pieces, use two trays if you need to, and roast them hot.
Should I salt the zucchini before cooking?
For frying and grilling, yes — twenty minutes of salting draws out enough water that it browns instead of steaming. For a slow-roasted tian or briam it matters less, because the oven has time to drive the moisture off. For a raw salad, salting is essential or it will weep into the dressing.
How thick should the slices be for a tian?
About three to five millimetres, and consistent. Too thin and the slices dry out and curl; too thick and they steam in their own moisture without concentrating. A mandoline gives the even thickness that makes the vegetables cook at the same rate and look right standing up.
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