What’s wrong with zucchini in a sandwich? Since my mother made these all the time for my brother and me, I’ve always considered it a perfectly normal idea. So, when Joe and Tanya were little, I’d make them each a lovely sandwich of a crusty roll filled with egg-battered zucchini strips for lunch at school. Years later, they confessed to me that they were ashamed to take such a peculiar sandwich out of their lunchboxes—so they threw out the zucchini before other kids could see it! Now, of course, they love the combination of crisp bread and moist, flavorful zucchini, and regret all the empty rolls they had to swallow. I tell Olivia, Lorenzo, and Miles to eat whatever they like, and forget about what other kids think.

　　

Ingredients

　　

Step 1

Here’s how to make a great zucchini-strip sandwich. Fry up some strips, and get crusty European-style rolls or bread loaf, like ciabatta or baguette. Slice the bread open, crisp the insides a bit in the oven (or toaster oven), then pile zucchini strips in the middle—warm or room-temperature, lightly salted.

　　

Step 2

Plain, just like that, is still the way I make my zucchini sandwich. Countless embellishments would be good too: fresh pesto, spread like mayonnaise; a thick slice of fresh tomato; or shreds of fresh basil leaves, parsley, or arugula. A loaf-sized zucchini sandwich is a great picnic item: cut it crosswise in thin slices for an appetizer or snack or in thicker slices for a main course. Stick a toothpick in to hold the layers together.

　　From Lidia's Family table by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich Copyright (c) 2004 by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich Published by Knopf.Lidia Bastianich hosts the hugely popular PBS show, "Lidia's Italian-American kitchen" and owns restaurants in New York City, Kansas City, and Pittsburgh. Also the author of Lidia's Italian Table and Lidia's Italian-American Kitchen, she lives in Douglaston, New York. Jay Jacob's journalism has appeared in many national magazines.From the Trade Paperback edition.