Zucchini alla Parmigiana

An ode to eggplant Parm in the key of zucchini, this recipe channels the summer flavors of an Italian garden, but with a nod to the eggplant Parm of my New Jersey youth. The Parm I knew best was reliably cheesy, heavy on the breading, and blanketed with an almost unreasonable amount of mozzarella—and I loved every bite of it. This version keeps that spirit but takes a simpler path: no breading, no dredging station, just zucchini planks, lightly salted and shallow-fried until golden and tender, then layered with sauce and cheese. It's faster and easier to pull off, especially when you don't feel like playing that whole wet-hand-dry-hand breading routine.

We also tested a breaded, eggplant-style version in the test kitchen, which delivered on richness and structure and was a hit, too, but this unbreaded version has more summer appeal. It's saucier, lighter, and a little less intense—perfect on its own or served alongside pasta. It's all the cheesy, tomatoey comfort, in a format that's easy to love (and slightly easier to make).

Salt Your Zucchini

This recipe is meant to highlight peak-season zucchini. To let their grassy flavor shine, it's essential to salt the zucchini planks before cooking. This simple step draws out excess moisture, which concentrates the vegetable's gentle flavor while preventing a soggy texture. This also stops the zucchini from turning the whole dish into a watery mess. As associate food editor, Laila points out in her guide to properly searing zucchini, salting zucchini sets you up for better browning in the pan—giving the zucchini a chance to caramelize instead of steam. The payoff: more structure, more flavor, and a more golden fried exterior.

To Fry or Not to Fry?

Do you really need to fry the zucchini? Why can't you just roast it? These are reasonable questions. The answer comes down to what frying does to the zucchini. It isn't just for crispiness; it's meant to concentrate flavor, add richness, and coax out zucchini's natural sweetness. Roasting does some of those things—you can concentrate flavor in the oven and develop a browned exterior. Still, even though it's slightly easier, it fails to yield zucchini that are as creamy and silky as fried, and that matters in the final dish.

Layer Like You Mean It

Once you've got your fried zucchini and your sauce, it's down to the layering. You don't need a towering stack, only enough to keep the dish together and guarantee that every bite hits the zucchini-sauce-cheese trifecta. Start with a thin swipe of sauce to prevent sticking, then alternate layers of zucchini, sauce, and cheese. Go light on each layer—balance matters more than excess. And if a few fried planks go missing (aka eaten) before layering, no one's judging. 

What comes out of the oven is bubbling and golden, with tender zucchini tucked between ribbons of sauce and molten cheese. It's rich, gooey, and green in all the right ways—the kind of comfort you want to dive into fork-first.