Zucchini and summer squash get seasoned with a heavy dose of salt, pepper, and garlic, then topped with breadcrumbs and cheese to make the most crispy, flavorful, simple summer side dish. 
If you have a couple zucchini plants in your garden, I’m guessing you’re about to reach that point in the year where you have an extra 6 zucchini on the counter at any given moment. Zucchini bread is obviously the best use for it, but a person can only eat so many loaves before frantically giving away a zucchini to every person they see on the street. To help you avoid this typical summertime conundrum, I decided to make a dish composed almost entirely of zucchini. 
I don’t have anything other than a few gourds and herbs in my garden because we don’t have a lot of space at the house we rent, and the squirrels eat everything we grow. Cutest baby watermelons? Squirrel food. Best broccoli ever? Squirrel food. Any greens under the sun, squirrel. freaking. food. The gourds are safe for now because they haven’t really grown yet, but mark my words, the squirrels are going to come for them. The only reason I don’t mind is that I’m surrounded by farms and neighbors with big gardens who put out the most beautiful, super cheap veggies for sale at the end of their driveways. Zucchini and summer squash are 3 for $1 at my favorite farm stand, which is just about as close to free food as it gets. It also means I spent $1 and pulled out a few ingredients I had on hand to make a side dish for dinner. It doesn’t get much cheaper or easier than that.
So, lets talk about this gratin. This gratin makes for the perfect side dish to literally anything you could want for dinner. Gratins are usually filled with lots of butter and cream. So, obviously, delicious. The problem is, zucchini season happens to be the HOTTEST time of year, and I can not even think about eating such a heavy, filling dish when my body is three seconds away from melting at any given moment. I lightened it up by roasting the zucchini with olive oil, then topping it with panko breadcrumbs (hello crunchy lovers), and a big sprinkle of a grated parmesan-romano blend. The zucchini softens but doesn’t turn to mush, and the topping gets all crispy and crunchy after a total of 30 minutes in the oven. Some bites are mostly delicious, seasoned veg, while other bites are full on crispy-cheesy coating. SO GOOD.
Are you following along? I’m saying you can bake this beauty in 30 minutes, which is most likely exactly as long as it would take you to make whatever else you want to have with dinner. You could also just scoop out half the dish all for yourself and have a zucchini gratin feast for dinner- no judgement here. Whatever you do, this gratin should become your new go-to summer side dish. If you make it, let me know! Leave a comment below, or tag me #bakedgreens on Instagram so I can see all your gorgeous zukes!
Zucchini Gratin
Ingredients
- 3 medium zucchini or summer squash
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil divided
- 1/2 teaspoon each of salt pepper, and garlic powder
- 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs use GF if necessary
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan Romano, Asiago, or other hard cheese (I used a parm & Romano blend)
- small handful of basil roughly chopped, for topping
Instructions
- 1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
- 2. Slice off the ends of the zucchini, then cut them in half crosswise. Stand up each half, and slice them into thin strips, about 1/4 inch thick or less each. Nestle zucchini slices into a 3-quart or similar sized baking dish, so they are slightly overlapping. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, garlic, and 1 T olive oil.
- 3. Bake zucchini for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle cheese, breadcrumbs, and last 1 T oil on top. Return to the oven and bake another 15 minutes. Remove from the oven, top with basil, and serve.
- 4. Gratin is best eaten the day it's made, though it's good both hot and ar room temperature. Leftovers should be kept in the fridge, and can be reheated in the microwave if necessary.