Zucchini sauce!

This is in reference to this post: vegetables.boards.net/thread/165/baked-gourd-recipe-tomatoes-savory

Anyway, I did the same recipe, except that I used zucchini (a large, externally orange zucchini) instead of gourd, and I baked it at 450° F. for about an hour instead of 500° F. for 30 to 40 minutes.

The result was that the zucchini had a completely different texture than the gourds. It had a lot of texture (the zucchini was very significant), and it didn't absorb the flavor of the herbs/spices much. Otherwise, it was good, but not like it was with gourds. I was dissatisfied. So, on Friday, I blended up the left-overs (they had been sitting in the refrigerator for a few days, in a gallon zipper bag), along with some stewed tomatoes which had been sitting in the refrigerator for some more days; I did have to add some water to blend it up. Then I reheated them. The result had the texture of apple sauce, and the taste was quite good, and didn't take too much time to eat.

So, if you have a big zucchini, this is what I recommend:

• Bake it for about 40 minutes.
• Take the skin off (you may want to do this first, but it’ll get a crust anyway)
• Blend it up into a sauce.
• Use it as you see fit. My personal recommendation is to use it to thicken a no-garlic tomato sauce for pizza. I haven’t tried this, but that’s what I was thinking when I was eating the blended, reheated leftovers. You may also consider making squash ketchup/salsa, or mock applesauce.