Baked Zucchini Sticks with Caramelized Onion Dipping Sauce
Yesterday in Boston was BEAUTIFUL. Made me glad that I’m holding on to summer with all that I have. I’ve definitely moved into the late-summer produce. We’re getting a lot of squash and potatoes in our CSA box instead of the corn and tomatoes of a few weeks ago… Luckily I really like squash and potatoes and they don’t scream fall (at least not to me).
A few weeks ago, I went to a lovely picnic with some of my favorite ladies in town. I brought these baked zucchini sticks and they were a huge hit. I have to admit that burned my tongue while taste testing a few of these straight out of the oven. The coating is made with bread crumbs and parmesan cheese. The zucchini sticks get nice and crispy in the oven and they taste AMAZING. Especially with the caramelized onion dipping sauce that accompanies them.
While I’m on the topic of the sauce… It is also amazing in it’s own right. When you mix caramelized onion with some homemade mayo, how could it not be great? It really compliments the flavor of the baked zucchini sticks. And, after the baked zucchini sticks were all gone, Hubby and I enjoyed the sauce on sandwiches in place of mayo. If you still have some zucchini hanging around, I highly recommend making these baked zucchini sticks. You definitely won’t regret it.
Baked Zucchini Sticks with Caramelized Onion Dip
Yield: Serves 4 as appetizers
Ingredients:
For the Caramelized Onion Dipping Sauce:
1 Tbsp butter
1 medium sweet onion, about 1/2 pound, peeled and sliced
2 Tbsp cider vinegar
2 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp prepared mustard
1/4 cup mayonnaise
salt and pepper to taste
For the Zucchini Sticks:
3 medium zucchini, unpeeled, cut into 3"-long stick
1 Tbsp salt
1 cup Panko bread crumbs
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 Tbsp oregano
1/2 cup flour
olive oil spray
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
Directions:
To make the dipping sauce:
Melt the butter in a medium frying pan over moderate heat, and add the sliced onions. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions soften, then caramelize. This should take between 10 and 15 minutes. The lower the heat, the longer it takes, but the less likely you are to burn the onions.
Once the onions are a medium brown, remove from the heat and add the vinegar.
Place the onions and vinegar into a small food processor. Add the honey and mustard, and process or blend until smooth.
Add the mayonnaise and salt and pepper to taste, stirring to combine. Refrigerate, covered, until ready to serve.
To make the zucchini sticks:
Place the zucchini sticks in a colander over a bowl and sprinkle with the tablespoon of salt. Let the zucchini drain for 1 hour or longer; rinse and pat dry.
Preheat the oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment, and spray the parchment with olive oil.
Set up your zucchini dredging by placing the flour in a shallow bowl, the eggs in another shallow bowl, and the panko, parmesan, and oregano in a third shallow bowl. Dredge sticks in the flour, then egg, then roll in the crumb mixture. Place the sticks on the prepared baking sheet.
Bake sticks for 12 minutes, turn over, and bake for an additional 8 minutes, until golden brown and crisp.
Serve immediately, with caramelized onion dip.
Recipe from King Arthur Flour
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
fig vinegar? i am assuming this is the balsamic vinegar?
beantownbaker — February 7th, 2013 @ 6:34 am
I fixed the recipe to be consistent. Any dark flavored vinegar that you enjoy would be perfect in this recipe.
This dish sounds delicious, I love roasting veggies.
beantownbaker — February 8th, 2013 @ 10:14 am
Me too. In fact it’s pretty much the only way I prepare veggies…
I love roasted veggies, especially beets! Looks beautiful.
beantownbaker — February 11th, 2013 @ 11:21 am
Beets are one of my favorites too. Can you believe I had never had one until a couple years ago?!?
I used 4 tbs butter and 4 tbs olive oil.
Tossed vegatables, oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, 2 tsp or so dry sage and 2 tsp or so dry rosemary in large bowl and then spread on two baking sheets.
Roasted for 30 minutes and then rotated cooking sheets in oven and roasted for another 30 minutes. No stirring required
Added 4 smoked Polish sausages cut into 1″ pieces for last 30 minutes.
Next time I will line cooking sheets with foil to make cleanup simpler.
A real keeper!!
beantownbaker — October 28th, 2013 @ 8:25 pm
What a great addition with the sausages!!
I had a beet that was wasting away in the fridge and a lonely turnip too. So I added them and 2 large carrots, all peeled and chunked, into a baking dish. Topped with 2 Tbsp sliced butter, coated with 2 tsp dried sage, half tsp rosemary, salt & pepper. After 1 hour in the oven, stirred, splashed with apple cider vinegar, and served. Very satisfying, and a nice accompaniment to roast chicken. Thanks for sharing!
beantownbaker — April 16th, 2014 @ 6:00 pm
Yum!