I was looking for a side dish to serve with a roast chicken when I happened on this recipe. I love zucchini (really, any type of squash), so it got my attention. Adding garlic, lemon, and parmesan cheese to most anything has always worked out for me. This particular recipe sounded like it would have plenty of flavors to go with chicken. Plus I could have it ready by the time I let the roasted chicken stand before carving it. And bonus points for already having the oven preheated. Roasted zucchini, here I come!
This post was originally published on October 11, 2017. The text and photos were updated on July 14, 2021. The review and rating have not been changed.
Yes, zucchini can be kind of bland and boring but when you brush it with a garlic lemon oil and top it with plenty of parmesan cheese it goes from drab to fab. I just couldn’t stop eating them. These are a summer side that you must try. You might even like them so much you’ll forget about the main dish.
The Ingredients
There’s not a lot that goes into this roasted zucchini recipe, and I have no problem with that. In fact, I had everything except the zucchini on hand (and I was finally able to finish off the block of parmesan I’ve had forever!). You know I love those short grocery lists!
The Process
I have to say this recipe was pretty easy to make. The first time I made it, I decided to halve the zucchini instead of quartering it after I read the author’s post. She mentioned she had trouble getting the cheese to stay on when she quartered them. I had no trouble getting the olive oil mixture and the parmesan to stay put.
The second time I made it, I decided to try quartering the zucchini. I was expecting to have trouble getting them to stay upright, but I didn’t at all. Probably because they took up the entire width of the baking sheet, and there was no room for them to tip over.
I was a little worried halving the zucchini would mean I would need to cook it longer, but it turns out the zucchini was perfectly done per the times listed. This dish was ready in 33 minutes, and that includes:
- Prep: 12 minutes
- Baking: 13 minutes
- Broiling: 8 minutes (including time to preheat)
I’d say I had the zucchini broiling for 4-5 minutes—the parmesan cheese browned pretty quickly.
