Zucchini Scarpaccia
Category
Side Dish
Servings
6
Prep Time
20 minutes
Cook Time
30 minutes
Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil, for preparing the pan
2 large zucchini, sliced into very thin ¼” rounds (roughly 3 1/2 packed cups)
- 1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup rice flour
1 cup fine cornmeal/polenta
-
1 1/2 cups Parmigiano cheese, grated
- 1 teaspoon salt
-
1 ½ teaspoons dried oregano, chopped
1 teaspoon garlic powder
-
¼ cup olive oil
2 large eggs
- Arugula and fresh lemon juice, for topping
For The Zucchini:
For The Scarpaccia:
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Prepare a 9 x 13-inch baking dish by lining with parchment paper. Drizzle 1 tablespoon of olive oil over the parchment and evenly coat, working up the sides of the pan about 1 inch.
After slicing the zucchini, add to a bowl with 1 teaspoon of salt. Toss with your hands to completely combine. Allow the zucchini to sit for 15 minutes to allow them to release excess water. After 15 minutes, wrap the zucchini in a dish towel and squeeze to wring out as much excess water as you can*. Reserve ¼ cup of the water from the zucchini to use in the batter. If you don’t get a full ¼ cup, add extra water to reach the full measurement.
Meanwhile, in a large bowl, mix the rice flour, cornmeal, Parmigiano cheese, salt, oregano and garlic powder until combined. Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the zucchini water, olive oil and eggs. Using a rubber spatula, mix until a thick batter is formed. Add the drained zucchini and fold to completely combine.
Press the dough evenly into the baking dish into one thin layer, pressing down as you even it out. Bake in the top rack of the oven for about 32 to 40 minutes, until golden brown and crisp.
Once out of the oven, allow to cool slightly. Slice into squares and serve. Top with flakey sea salt, fresh arugula and a squeeze of lemon juice if desired. Alternatively, you can serve with marinara for dipping.
- *Chef’s Note: The less water you wring out, the longer the scarpaccia might need to bake, as water needs to steam off before it can brown.
Nutrition
Nutrition
- Nutrition Serving Size
- 6
- per serving
- Calories
- 420
- Carbs
- 36 grams
- Protein
- 14 grams
- Fat
- 25 grams
- Saturated Fat
- 9 grams
- Cholestrol
- 95 milligrams
- Sodium
- 484 milligrams
- Fiber
- 2 grams
- Sugar
- 3 grams
20 comments
Loved this recipe, I did add garlic powder and sliced onion and it was wonderful! I love onions that’s why I added it…. Five stars! Delish!
Followed the directions . It looked good and crispy but flavor …totally flat! Very disappointed. Would definitely add onions and more seasoning .
We are so sorry this one didn’t work out! We take these reviews very seriously and we’re working on further cross-testing this recipe to ensure it turns out great for everyone!
I just made this recipe exactly as written using white rice flour & fine cornmeal. I had no issues at all. It’s crispy! I put the salted thinly sliced zucchini in a colander over a bowl to drain excess water. After 15 mins or more, I then took handfuls & gently squeezed more water out. I then rolled the handfuls of drained zucchini in paper towel to remove more moisture before adding it to the batter. I also baked the Zucchini Scarpaccia in a 9 × 13″ glass baking dish. I will be making this recipe again! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Loved this recipe! I halved it and made it in a 10” round cake pan and it came out perfect – even with using regular flour. I think the key is the ratio of zucchini to batter and making sure the zucchini is thin enough and dry enough. Will be making it again!!
I got a bit irritated by the negative review written by the Karen who thought she knows better than Giada, so I decided to try the recipe. Unfortunately, I only had one zucchini, so I shredded it and one large onion on the large holes of a grater. I figured it will be easier to mix with the relatively thick batter. I used Bob’s Mill polenta and rice flour. This is probably the best zucchini recipe that I have ever made. It was super crispy and savory and my family loved it. I think that the two pictures from previous reviews show an undercooked scarpaccia and too many zucchinis relative to the amount of batter. Of course, using high quality parmesan and adjusting the seasoning to your taste would lead to a better result. Overall, five stars. Grazie, Giada!
Loved this recipe! Very easy and delicious. I did make a couple of changes. I baked mine for about 40-45 minutes. My zuchini was a little wet because I pressed it with paper towels instead of squeezing in a towel. After baking and cutting, I topped each slice with extra oregano, arugula, a small piece of procuitto and drizzled with balsamic glaze. My husband added red pepper flakes to his. It was so pretty, I wished I remembered to take a photo but it was so good, we ate it all too quickly before I thought about it.
Love these additions! We’re working on updating the recipe so that there is a more consistent amount of zucchini for everyone (thus creating a more consistent flavor), but we’re so glad you made this recipe your own :)
After reading the previous reviews, I knew that if I followed the recipe as written, I would have the same results, so the flavor really needed to be amped up. Here is what I added:
2 teaspoons salt instead of 1 teaspoon
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
Crushed red pepper
2 green onions, sliced
Squirt and zest of some lemon (not a lot)
To the eggs I added a pinch of salt and dill
I baked it on a cookie sheet vs 13×9 pan, which I think helped it to crisp up more.
And before baking I drizzled 2 tsp melted butter on top of the whole thing
Family thought it was very tasty and I will be making it again.
Enjoy 😊
Love these additions! We’re working on updating the recipe so that there is a more consistent amount of zucchini for everyone (thus creating a more consistent flavor), but we’re so glad you made this recipe your own :)
I followed this recipe to the letter—-terrible! I was so excited too, couldn’t wait to make it. Won’t be trying anymore of her recipes, so far everyone has been a bust!! 👎👎👎
And please don’t reply with something that implies I don’t know how to cook— trivial & insulting to you.
We are so sorry this one didn’t work out! We have no doubt that you’re a skilled cook and we apologize for the variable nature of this recipe. We take these reviews very seriously and we’re working on further cross-testing this recipe to ensure it turns out great for everyone!
Usually love recipes – gotta say, awful. Very crispy batter, no flavor, and need to triple zucchini. Squeezing water out great, but when cooking zucchini, quantity always reduces.
We’re so sorry this didn’t turn out as expected! We realize the amount of zucchini listed may have created variable results for this recipe, and are working on updating it to be as precise as possible!
Definitely not as good as Giada makes it look. I followed the directions to a T but feel like the dish was flavorless and dry. Next time I would add lemon juice, pepper and more salt to the batter and maybe not squeeze the zucchini as well as I did. Maybe no next time. I have found more flavorful ways of using zucchini.
We’re so sorry this didn’t turn out as expected! We realize the amount of zucchini listed may have created variable results for this recipe, and are working on updating it to be as precise as possible!
For some reason I ended up with much less batter than when Giada did it in her video the other day, and it was not as light and fluffy either. I also ended up with more zucchini, although I didn’t actually check that I had the prescribed 3.5 cups; I simply took the 2 large zucchini I had. Didn’t have enough parmesan so grated some mozzarella to make up for it.
We’re so sorry this didn’t turn out as expected! We realize the amount of zucchini listed may have created variable results for this recipe, and are working on updating it to be as precise as possible!
@Sylvia—we recommend using rice flour! You can sub AP flour, by the consistency won’t be quite as crispy!
Can you use all-purpose flour instead of rice flour?