The Crunchy Ingredient Ina Garten Tops Her Roasted Zucchini With

Roasted zucchini is a pretty easy dish to pull off. If you have some fresh picks from your garden or the store, plus olive oil, salt, pepper, and maybe a few herbs or seasonings, you have a quick recipe that makes a great accompaniment for any meal — from pasta to fish to meat. 

But Ina Garten's take on this classic dish truly elevates it, and, even better, her simple step is inexpensive and accessible. Simply top your zucchini with some breadcrumbs to add crunch and enhance the mouthfeel of this squash variety, resulting in the perfect snappy bite.

Garten has shared her favorite brand of breadcrumbs in the past: It's the easy-to-find 4C seasoned variety. In this case, however, she recommends panko breadcrumbs. Panko comes from Japanese crustless white bread crumbs and will infuse any dish with crispy crunch, even more so than regular breadcrumbs since they absorb less oil. 

From there, all that's separating you from tasting this satisfying dish is about 40 minutes.  

Ina Garten's roasted zucchini recipe calls for six medium-sized veggies. You'll cut off their ends and tops, which are edible, but won't be needed here. If you want to repurpose the ends, believe it or not, you can boil the stems and then douse them in olive oil for another tasty treat.

What we love about this recipe is how the seeds get scooped out once the veggies are sliced so the toppings can rest inside when you roast the vegetables. It's almost like you've created a comfortable little nest for the crunchy breadcrumbs.

Here's where things get really interesting: You'll turn the zucchini cut-side and nest down, and sprinkle the uncut side with kosher salt. Why kosher salt? Well, Garten won't touch table salt due to its metallic and overly-salty taste. To properly roast the veggies, the temp and time is key; set the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit for 12 to 15 minutes. 

According to fellow star Chef Thomas Keller, cooking zucchini at a high temperature is imperative since this veggie is 94% water and can turn to mush if not prepared properly. This is also why you remove the seeds, which are watery and will only add to the hydration issue.

The topping for Ina Garten's roasted zucchini recipe is all about the breadcrumbs, and a hearty dose of parmesan cheese, as well as fresh herbs — 2 tablespoons of parsley and basil to be specific. Dried parsley is an alright substitute for fresh in a pinch, but know that this herb loses its flavor when dried. Conversely, basil will taste more potent when dried, so keep that in mind if you swap out fresh for the dried variety, and opt for just 1 tablespoon.

The herbs will be mixed with minced garlic and 1/2-cup of freshly-grated parmesan cheese. Garten's recipe calls for grated Italian parmesan, which The Barefoot Contessa strongly recommends grating yourself rather than using the store-bought variety to ensure a fresh, quality ingredient. Sure, it'll take a moment more to grate the cheese yourself, but the end result is worth it. Finally, the key ingredient, panko breadcrumbs, is added. 

Once you remove the zucchini from the oven and flip it to the cut-side up, you'll scoop that tasty topping into the scooped out sections. To wrap it up, the delicious veggies go back into the oven for another 10 minutes and then you can enjoy!