Baked Zucchini Fries With Tomato Sauce
One of the dishes I made a lot this summer was baked zucchini fries with tomato sauce. It can be considered as the single vegetable version of baked şakşuka (mixed fry). Zucchini is one of the vegetables which give good result when baked. The eggplant is darkening when baked and it never comes near to the flavor of the fried eggplant. The potatoes are not crispy enough as oil fried ones. I do not have a word for peppers, they are as delicious as oil fried ones even when baked.
Zucchini is also like pepper, its taste and consistency does not change even if fried in the oil or in the oven. When you fry in the oil, it only becomes more oily. There is no point in eating oil without any extra flavor, so the winner is the zucchini fry in the oven.
When added garlic yoghurt and tomato sauce, it becomes as delicious as gourmet delicacies. By the way, you can mix the zucchini with tomato sauce and serve it with garlic yogurt over.
I do not know if you have noticed that 1.5 kg zucchini is used in the recipe, but the portion is for two persons. Believe it or not, but the zucchini you see on this plate is half of all the ingredients, equivalent to 750 grams of raw zucchini. Zucchini is one of the vegetables that shrink when cooked, like spinach.
A final reminder. Zucchini don't become crispy baked or fried. Keep this in mind not to get disappointed.
Enjoy the recipe...
Ingredients
- 1.5 kg zucchinies,
- 4 tablespoons olive oil,
- 2 tomatoes,
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste,
- 4 tablespoonsplain yogurt,
- 1 clove of garlic,
- Fresh or dried thyme,
- Salt.
Preparation
- Slice the zucchinies round and take them in a deep bowl,
- Add two tablespoons of olive oil and salt according to taste, combine well,
- Place the zucchinies in a large tray covered with wax paper,
- Place the baking tray in the top rack of the oven,
- Bake in a 190 C (pre-heated in the grill setting) oven until brown on top,
- In the meantime, heat up the remaining olive oil in a saucepan,
- Add the tomato paste and sautee until smells good,
- Add the grated tomatoes and cook until the desired consistency,
- Add salt, mix and remove from heat,
- In a separate bowl mix yogurt with grated garlic and salt according to your taste,
- Remove the zucchinies from the oven and take into serving plates,
- Pour first yogurt sauce then tomatoes sauce, sprinkle thyme over.
Bon Appetit...