Zucchini is coming out of my ears!!!

My garden hasn't been as productive as I'd hoped this summer.  Beetles have infested my tomatoes, and since the thought of using pesticide makes me as sick as the thought of my heirloom tomatoes rotting on the vine, I'm having to pick them when they are still green leaving them small and not nearly as flavorful as previous years.  But, the green beans, lettuces and herbs have been great!  And I'm having the best year of Zucchini yet.  I've made zucchini boats, grilled zucchini ribbons, I added them to omelettes, pastas and soups and even grated zucchini into Liam's gluten free pancakes.  I also used my favorite pickle recipe to make zucchini pickles.  Here are a few new-to-me recipes that have come out really well.  I've modified them all to be gluten free, however I must admit that I have indulged in a little dairy, but these recipes are totally worth the splurge.

Zucchini Pizza Crust (Makes 1 large thick crust or 2 medium thin crust)
8 cups shredded zucchini
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
2/3 cup flour (sub gluten free all purpose flour)
2 tsp garlic salt
3 tsp dried oregano
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 tsp sea salt

1. Preheat oven to 550F with a pizza stone pre-baking in it.
2. In a large bowl, toss the zucchini with 1 teaspoon sea salt and set aside for 15 minutes. Squeeze the excess moisture out of the squash by wrapping it up in a clean tea towel or piece of cheese cloth and wringing it out, discarding the water.
3. Once all of the excess moisture has been wrung out and discarded, place the shredded zucchini back into the bowl and add the cheddar cheese, flour, garlic, oregano, basil, eggs, and salt.
4. With your hands, incorporate all of the ingredients together.
5. Place the zucchini mixture onto a piece of parchment paper at least 15” in diameter, set on something solid that will make it easy to transfer into the oven.
6. Using your fingers, spread the zucchini crust mixture to form a circle about 14” in diameter, 1/2" thick. Pinch the edges up so that it forms a nice crust.
7. Once the pizza crust has been shaped, transfer the crust on the parchment paper onto the heated pizza stone in the oven. Bake for 8 minutes or until the crust starts to brown.
8. Once the zucchini crust has baked for 8 minutes, transfer the pizza on the parchment paper out of the oven, onto the solid surface you used before.
9. Top the pizza with sauce and any additional toppings that you'd like.
10. Once the toppings are on, transfer the pizza on the parchment paper back onto the heated pizza stone in the oven and bake for an additional 4 minutes.

No Pasta Zucchini Lasagna (Makes a 9x13in glass pan)

1 large zucchini

1 16oz can or homemade tomato sauce

1 16oz can alfredo sauce

2 Tblsp chopped fresh basil

1 Tblsp dried oregano

8 oz whole milk mozzarella thinly sliced

8 oz grated Parmesan or nutritional yeast

1 16oz pkg frozen chopped spinach (thawed and drained)

1 lb chopped mushrooms (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 325F.  Grease glass pan.

2. Slice zucchini into very thin slices.  Sprinkle slices lightly with salt, set aside in a colander to drain for 10-15 minutes

3. To assemble the lasagna, spread 1/2 of the tomato sauce on the bottom of pan.  Then layer 1/2 of the zucchini strips, 1/2 of the spinach, all of the mushrooms, 1/2 of the alfredo sauce, 1/2 of the basil and oregano and 1/2 of the mozzarella.  Repeat.  Top with Parmesan or nutritional yeast.

4. Cover pan with aluminum foil, bake for 45 minutes.  Remove foil and bake another 15 minutes or until cheese is slightly browned.

5.  Let stand 5-10 minutes then serve.