Zucchini stewed in tomato sauce
For more recipes and pics, head over to Savory Notes!
My nana and grandpa spoke imperfect Italian, and even worse Sicilian. They used a lot of slang for a lot of words. One of those, being “googoots,” (or “googauts”) for Cucuzza, …for zucchini. Cucuzza is a specific type of squash… (well, technically it’s a gourd,) which I’ve never had (unfortunately) and we always used it to mean zucchini, so, there ya go.
Ingredients
4-5 medium zucchini, washed and cut into little half moons
2, 28oz cans of crushed tomatoes
1 medium (or large) onion, sliced
2-5 cloves of garlic, finely minced (the specific amount is up to you. I used 5.)
3 tbsp Olive oil
pinch of salt
pinch of sugar
pinch of red pepper
1/4 c basil, ripped (never, ever cut! always ripped.)
1 tbsp butter
Instructions
-Heat olive oil in a pot, over low heat. Add zucchini, onions, and salt, and sweat the vegetables. This means keeping the heat low so we don’t brown any of the vegetables, we just heat it enough to let their natural juices come out.
-After onions turn translucent, add red pepper flake and garlic, cook on low for another two minutes.
-Add cans of tomatoes and basil, raise heat to medium/medium-low, and cook for 40-60 minutes. We’re looking for the zucchini to be tender. Stir occasionally, every 10 mins or so, making sure nothing is sticking and burning at the bottom of your pot!
-About five minutes before zucchini is done, add a pinch of sugar, and stir.
-Turn off the heat, and add the tbsp of butter. (Don’t tell my mom that I do this, ok? Butter just adds a velvety backdrop that wraps the whole thing up together, and I like using it. She, does not.) Top with Parmesan cheese, and dig in!