Zucchini Carpaccio

When I need a simple summer dish that’s elegant enough to serve at a dinner party, I pull out this recipe for zucchini carpaccio salad. The term “carpaccio” usually refers to beef that is sliced thin, pounded even thinner and then served raw, but in this case, wide zucchini ribbons takes the place of the meat for a vegetarian alternative. The dish is also gluten free, and could easily be made vegan if served without the cheese.

Because this zucchini recipe is so simple, it’s easy to make modifications. Try adding other summer vegetables, splashing on vinegar instead of lemon juice, or sprinkling on a favorite spice. Once you’ve tried the base recipe, don’t hesitate to make it your own.

Ingredients for Zucchini Carpaccio Salad

• Zucchini: Choose small or medium zucchini for this lovely summer salad. They have fewer seeds and are more tender than baseball bat–sized squash.
• Sea salt: Salt draws the liquid out of the zucchini and simultaneously seasons it, leaving you with more flavor. A fine salt is your best option, since it will coat the squash strips more evenly than other types of salt. If you use a chunkier salt, simply toss the zucchini a couple of times during its 30-minute rest to distribute it more evenly.
• Lemon juice: In a simple recipe such as this one, the quality of each ingredient matters. Use freshly squeezed lemon juice, and save bottled juice for another application.
• Olive oil: This is the perfect place to use your finest extra virgin olive oil. Choose a high-quality olive oil that’s either peppery and grassy, or smooth and buttery.
• Black pepper: Pepper is the only hint of heat in the recipe, so using freshly ground pepper ensures that you’ll get the right bite.
• Pine nuts: Toasting the nuts deepens their flavor and adds crunch, so don’t skip that step.
• Parmesan: Buy a block of Parmesan cheese and shave it with a vegetable peeler. If you don’t have a peeler, you can use the largest holes on a box grater to make shreds.
• Fresh herbs: Tender herbs like basil or mint work best for this recipe. Cut or tear them just before adding them.

Directions

Step 1: Remove water from the zucchini

Use a vegetable peeler to shave thick ribbons of zucchini. Place the zucchini strips in a mixing bowl and toss them with salt. Let them sit for 30 minutes. Press them gently with a kitchen towel to remove excess liquid. Place them back in the bowl, and toss them with the lemon juice. Let them sit for 15 minutes.

Editor’s Tip: If the zucchini are wider than the peeler, you’ll need to rotate the fruit as you go. You may end up with a seedy center section that’s too tender to slice. Save that bit and use it in a pasta sauce or soup. You can also cut the zucchini with a mandoline or a sharp chef’s knife.

Step 2: Toast the pine nuts

While the zucchini is resting, heat a small skillet over medium heat and toast the pine nuts until they’re golden brown, about one to two minutes. Let them cool.

Step 3: Make the carpaccio

On a platter, layer the zucchini ribbons, olive oil, pine nuts, Parmesan cheese and freshly ground black pepper. Garnish the dish with fresh herbs and lemon zest, if desired.

Editor’s Tip: To make an elegant, restaurant-style plate, you can roll the zucchini pieces, curve them into ribbons, or simply stack them so that they’re a bit fluffy.

Zucchini Carpaccio Salad Variations

• Use yellow squash: Any type of summer squash can work in this dish, so don’t hesitate to make a swap. Make it with yellow squash instead of green zucchini, or use some of each.
• Swap nuts: Pine nuts are pricey, so you can replace them with sliced or slivered almonds, or walnut pieces, if that works better for your wallet. Sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds are an even more budget-friendly alternative.
• Garnish it with herbs: Thinly sliced Mediterranean herbs, such as basil, spearmint and oregano, are excellent in to this salad. Choose one, or combine all three into an herb salad and sprinkle over the zucchini.
• Add tahini: The richness of sesame paste complements this light, bright dish. Simply put a smear of tahini on the plate before adding the zucchini. (Tahini zucchini has a nice ring to it, after all.)
• Change the cheese: There are several other cheeses that would work nicely in place of the Parmesan. Fresh mozzarella pearls would contrast the long, thin zucchini strips, and crumbled feta would taste wonderful with the olive oil and lemon. Fresh goat cheese could work, too.
• Make it a tossed salad: Don’t want to bother with fiddly plating? Toss the zucchini with the olive oil, grind in some pepper, and put the pine nuts and cheese on the table for people to add to their own plates.

How to Store Zucchini Carpaccio Salad

If you don’t finish the zucchini carpaccio in one go, store the components separately, if you can. The lemony zucchini can go into a snap-top container in the fridge, the cheese can stay in its original packaging, and the toasted pine nuts can be stored on the counter or in the fridge. Build the salads right before you serve them. The lemony zucchini is best eaten right away, but can still be consumed safely for up to four days. The quality will drop before it becomes unsafe to eat.

Zucchini Carpaccio Salad Tips

Do you need to peel zucchini?

You can peel the zucchini, but the color of the tender green skin is part of this recipe’s aesthetic charm, so we don’t recommend it!

What else can you serve with zucchini carpaccio?

This salad is light and delicate enough to accompany chicken, fish or steak cooked over coals—I particularly like it beside grilled steaks with mushroom sauce. The dish has Mediterranean vibes with olive oil, lemon and Parmesan in the mix, so it makes a great accompaniment for saffron risotto or Italian noodle dishes, from pasta with white clam sauce to homemade potato gnocchi.