Zucchini Grinders

Happy Tuesday! I hope that you had a restful, relaxing long weekend. I am relishing the little bit of time before I start training for the new job later this week. When I shared my recipe for my favorite spaghetti sauce, I promised you that I would share my favorite way to use up the extra sauce after some delicious spaghetti. What kind of person would I be to break a promise?

I am sad to say that my garden stopped producing zucchini long ago. I blame it on equal parts of heat, lack of water, and fault of the gardener. I was left to the sad produce bins of the local store. I have never seen such sad, skinny little zucchini. Luckily, they shredded up beautifully. If you've never extracted the water from a vegetable, it is a really neat to see (but that's the science nerd in me.) 

Zucchini Grinders
Source: Sauteed Zucchini from Annie's Eats, grinders adapted from AllRecipes

Ingredients

1 teaspoon olive oil
 2 medium zucchini, shredded
½ teaspoon salt
¼ onion, grated
1 cup spaghetti sauce
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
4 (6 inch) French or Italian sandwich rolls, split

Directions

Shred zucchini using food processor or box grater. Sprinkle with salt and allow to sit for 10 minutes. Using a towel, wring out the extra water from the zucchini. Place in bowl and toss with a teaspoon of olive oil and grated onion.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Place teaspoon of oil in a skillet over medium heat. Fry the shredded zucchini in oil until browned and slightly tender. Break up any clumps of zucchini using a spatula. Allow to fry on each side without stirring, approximately 2 minutes per side.  Add the spaghetti sauce and cook until mixture is heated through.

Place buns in aluminum foil. Place a handful of mozzarella cheese on the bottom of the roll. Spoon a generous amount of the zucchini mixture on top of the cheese. Top with an additional handful of shredded mozzarella. Close the rolls, and wrap individually in aluminum foil.

Bake for approximately 10 minutes in the preheated oven, until cheese is melted.