Eric Ripert | Avec Eric

Summer is here in New York and the heat has been very intense recently. But the good thing summer brings to the city is plenty of fresh seasonal vegetables, including beautiful green zucchini, also called summer squash, or courgettes, as I call them in French.The greenmarkets are filling up with many different vegetables now - zucchini is one of my favorites because it is so versatile. You can enjoy it raw in a salad, julienned in a frittata, or cooked lightly as in this preparation. Its delicate flavor combines well with other bold flavored ingredients. This particular dish combines fresh zucchini with aged Parmesan cheese and balsamic vinegar to create a dish with a range of flavors. The meltingly tender flesh of the zucchini combines with the sharp nuttiness of the Parmesan and contrast with the incredible, rich sweetness of the aged balsamic.

To prepare the zucchini for this recipe, peel some long strips of the skin away – the dark green will create a nice color contrast with the lighter flesh for presentation. The skin also provides the thin slices with some support. Slice the zucchini into thin rounds, like carpaccio, about ¼ inch thick. It makes for good practice of your knife skills, but you could also use a mandolin to make very even slices. Try not to cut them too thin or the cooked slices will fall apart when you are handling them. If you cut it too thick, it will take longer to cook and the dish will look less refined. When the zucchini broils in the toaster oven, it will also steam itself because the water gets released from the vegetable, which will make it very tender. Before cooking the zucchini, finely grate a wedge of aged Parmesan cheese to make about a ¼ cup. A light, even sprinkle of the fine textured cheese will blend nicely with the zucchini. You can use less salt to season the vegetable because the cheese will bring saltiness to the dish but you still should use the regular amount of freshly ground pepper.

Take the extra time to plate the zucchini in a circular pattern around the dish, with the slices slightly overlapping. It is a simple 30-second technique that transforms the dish and creates a beautiful presentation.In Italy, it is traditional to serve Parmesan cheese drizzled with a bit of aged balsamic. Here, we drizzle the balsamic over the entire plated dish, making a spiral design so each piece of zucchini is touched by the vinegar. If you don’t have aged balsamic, you can simmer regular balsamic vinegar in a saucepan and reduce it down to a syrupy consistency, then let it cool. Be careful not to let the vinegar burn on the sides of the pan or else it will impart a bitter flavor. To finish, sprinkle fresh chopped parsley over the dish, which brings some brightness to the flavor and the presentation. This quick and light preparation is a great way to take a simple summer vegetable and create something really special.