Cheesy Zucchini Gratin

with crispy homemade breadcrumbs!

I’ve seen some pretty delicious side dishes served up at the table here in France, but one of my favorites was served by a friend of my husband’s who invited us to Sunday lunch one summer.

It was a drizzly, summer day in Brittany, damp and cold enough for a “summer sweater”. I could tell right away she had something delicious bubbling in the oven, the kind of intoxicating aroma that comes when Emmental cheese meets béchamel sauce.

And then this thing was set down on a trivet in the middle of the table, to oohs and ahhs from all the guests.

I present to you a recreation of this incredibly delicious Zucchini Gratin.

The summer cousin of the Potato Gratin, and a distant relative of the Endive and Cauliflower gratin. But equally delicious!

If I’ve learned one thing in France, it’s that there’s a gratin recipe for every season! And now that zucchini is plentiful at the markets (and perhaps in your garden too?), now is the time to enjoy this one!

If your garden is overflowing with summer squash, put it to good use in my Easy Zucchini Bread, Chicken Brochettes with Zucchini Salad, and Provençal Tian!

• You’ll love the contrast of textures. The tender rounds of zucchini are tossed with a silky béchamel sauce, a layer of melted Gruyère, and delicious crunchy homemade breadcrumbs. Every bite is gooey, creamy, and crunchy all at once!

• It’s also a forgiving dish when entertaining. You can bake the whole thing the day before, then simply reheat it when you’re ready to serve.

• It’s substantial enough to serve as a vegetarian main course, but simple enough to serve as a side.

• It pairs beautifully with my Roast Chicken recipe or a holiday beef roast.

• This recipe calls for 7 cups of zucchini sliced into 1/8″ rounds. You certainly can slice them by hand, but I find a mandoline does much quicker work and gives you uniform rounds that help the zucchini cook evenly.

• I use mine a lot in the summertime for things like my Creamy Cucumber Dill Salad, and in the fall for my Shaved Brussels Sprouts Salad. If you cook many recipes that call for evenly sliced vegetables, a mandoline is a worthwhile investment.

• A mandoline will keep the zucchini uniform in size, which will help them cook at the same rate too.

Substitutions and Variations

• Use yellow squash in place of some of the zucchini, or a mix of both summer squash, for a gratin with a bit more color.

• Stir a little shredded rotisserie chicken into the béchamel sauce, and this gratin becomes the main meal rather than the side.

• Any rustic loaf will work for homemade breadcrumbs; a boule is a great alternative to sourdough. You want a bread sturdy enough to withstand the blade of a food processor, with plenty of nooks and crannies to hold the melted butter.