Tuesday 9 June 2015

Culinary Cannonballs!

Zucchini Tonde, Pomodori, Erbe Miste Avvolte in Pancetta
Bacon-Wrapped Round Zucchini with Tomato & Mixed Herb Filling

 

I love these small, round zucchini! They are little cannonballs of flavor and with an absolute minimum of work and effort, I transformed them into truly delicious little appetizers this evening!

You can fret, you can fuss... You can knock yourself out with hard work and amazingly exclusive and complicated ingredients and procedures when you cook... If you like.

Or you can do something like this instead!


 

These are simple ingredients and simple flavors that everyone knows and almost everyone loves... So why mess with that? The best thing to do, is just just put those flavors and textures together, not change them, simply enhance them... And absolutely enjoy them at their best!


2 little round zucchini, 1 tomato, some fresh basil, oregano and mint, 4 rashers of bacon and a little salt and pepper... That was all that I needed! I didn't even need that second tomato you can see in the photo- lol!

 

These would make great appetizers, as I said, or side dishes... Or even a small meal in themselves as they were for me this evening. Have a slice of crusty bread at hand and you will be happy! These are tasty and sooo juicy!

 

Cut the zucchini in half, from top to bottom and then cut each half into two slices... Basically, just taking off the round "lid" , so that you can add your tomato and herb filling later.

 

Fry them with just a tiny drop of olive oil for just 2-3 minutes of the most from each side, seasoning with salt and pepper, then set them aside to cool of for 10 minutes.

Whilst they sizzle away, turn on your oven and have it warming, ready to finish the zucchini off in 10 minutes or so...



Let the zucchini cool off for a 10 minutes and then lay a few basil and mint leaves on each, lay a slice of tomato on top of them, season with salt and pepper and add a few of those tender oregano leaves.

 

Set the zucchini on top of the bacon and pop the lid on top, then simply fold the bacon shut over the top...


... and secure with a cocktail stick, making sure to push it in quite deep, so that it doesn't burn in the oven.
 
 
Start the little, wrapped zucchini frying in the pan at first for 2-3 minutes, until they are sizzling away and then transfer them to the hot oven, at 180 C, for 20-30 minutes until the bacon is golden brown and crispy and delicious!

 

Simple, tasty and pretty as a picture! What more could you want?

 

Yes, these little beauties are indeed little cannonballs of flavor- there's more to them than just their shape! And prepared like this... Well... What's not to like?!?!

 

The bacon and zucchini flavor is great in itself of course... But the added fruitiness of the tomato and the rich herbs inside, just make the whole thing complete... Which is why I had to eat them all up completely too!

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