Baked Zucchini Wedges

Sooner or later, you’re going to want to get zucchini into the mouths of babes. Those babes would be your children: The vegetable haters, the ones who treat all things green with suspicion. You could fry it, of course. But that turns nice, nutritious vegetables into fattening fried food—a Faustian bargain, at best.

Here’s what you need: Baked zucchini wedges, from Learn to Cook 25 Southern Classics 3 Ways by North Carolina-based author (and mother of four) Jennifer Brulé. Coated with a breading that has a little cheese flavor, just enough seasoning to be interesting, and a crisp texture that doesn’t require frying, they’re sort of like the pizza of vegetable dishes. The hardest part about this recipe is grating a cup of Parmesan cheese. Don’t resort to pre-grated Parmesan—it’s won’t melt and crispen up as well.

Toss a small cup of ranch dressing on the side and these zucchini wedges are hard to resist—golden brown with no hot oil required.

See more summer zucchini recipes

Ingredients

1 tablespoon coconut, vegetable, or olive oil
2 large or 3 medium zucchini
1 cup all-purpose flour
3 eggs
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup panko-style bread crumbs
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
2 teaspoons Italian seasoning

Preparation

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Using a paper towel, grease a sheet pan with the oil.

Trim off both ends of each zucchini, then cut each one in half lengthwise, then in half lengthwise again to form thick wedges. (If you want them long and thin, you could cut them in half lengthwise once more.) Cut each wedge into 3- to 4-inch-long segments.

Place the flour in a pie plate. In a second pie plate, beat the eggs. In a third, combine the Parmesan, bread crumbs, onion powder, garlic powder, pepper flakes, salt and Italian seasoning.

Working in batches, toss 4 to 6 wedges at a time into the flour, shake off the excess, dip them in beaten egg to coat (use a fork or your fingers to turn them), then into the breadcrumb mixture. (To keep from gunking your fingers up with large amounts of dough, try to remember to use one hand in the flour and bread crumbs and the other hand with the egg. In restaurant kitchens, it’s called “Standard Breading Procedure.”)

Place each coated wedge on one flat side on the baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes, flip the wedges over to the other flat side and continue baking for 10 to 15 minutes, until brown. Serve hot.

Baked Zucchini Wedges

Ingredients

Preparation

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