From the kitchen of Giuliano Hazan comes a dish that perfectly encapsulates the essence of home-cooked comfort. As someone who’s had the pleasure of knowing Giuliano and his family, I can attest to the warmth and authenticity they bring to every recipe.
This Zucchini Frittata, a delightful recipe from Giuliano’s latest book, “Hazan Family Favorites,” captures the simple yet elegant spirit of their family’s culinary tradition. With eggs fresh from my hens and a giant zucchini from the garden, this frittata isn’t just a meal; it’s a celebration of family, simplicity, and the joy of cooking with ingredients that tell a story.
Let’s dive into this recipe that’s as much about making memories as it is about making a delicious meal.
I’ve known Giuliano, Lael and the girls since their early days of the blog. The Hazan’s live in Sarasota, Florida, just a few minutes hop down the interstate from where I used to live. If you’re not familiar with Giuliano, I’m sure you’ve heard of his mother, Italian cooking doyenne, Marcella Hazan, whom I was lucky enough to spend time with a couple of years ago.
Giuliano, Lael and I have crossed paths many times, though usually it’s is a quick “hi!” at the IACP conferences or other blogging conferences. We’ve dined at their house and they at ours. I adore their girls, Gabriella and Michela, who love their pastas almost as much as their papa.
Giuliano just came out with a new book, Hazan Family Favorites, featuring recipes from his childhood and new recipes that he loves to make at home with the girls. The dishes are unfussy and simple to prepare – most recipes have just a handful of ingredients and 3 steps. My favorite part of the book was reading the family stories and watching Giuliano grow up with Marcella and Victor through photos!
This morning’s eggs from our hens and a giant zucchini from the garden went into the Frittata with Zucchini. We added a super-ripe heirloom tomato, also from our garden and finished it off with goat cheese crumbles (sadly, not from our homestead).
Zucchini Frittata Recipe
The zucchini is best sliced on a mandolin. The one I *love* is the handheld mandolin by Oxo for $14.99. It’s lightweight, under $15 and requires no setting up.
Gorgeous heirloom tomato from my garden. I don’t remember the name of this tomato, but it ripens to a deep dark red/black color.
The onions are caramelized with just a pinch of sugar. The sugar helps speed up the caramelization by half the time.
Sliced zucchini is added to the pan and cooked until soft.
Those pretty eggs are from the hens – we used 5 of them. Whisk the eggs well.
In the pan, pour in the eggs, throw on the tomato slices and dot with crumbled goat cheese. Bake.
Great for breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner.
Zucchini Frittata Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 onion, sliced
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1/8 teaspoon sugar
- 12 ounces zucchini (1 large zucchini or 3 small zucchini)
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 5 eggs
- sprig of fresh thyme (or 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme)
- 1 tomato
- 4 ounces goat cheese
Instructions
- Heat a nonstick pan over medium heat and add the butter. When the butter starts bubbling, add the onion. Sprinkle in the sugar. Saute the onion until carmalized, about 8-10 minutes. Take care not to burn the onions.
- While the onion is sauteeing, slice the zucchini very thinly (1/8" thick) using sharp chef's knife or a mandolin. Cut the tomato into 1/4" slices. When the onion is ready, add the zucchini and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occassionally until zucchini is tender and has just started to brown.
- In a large bowl, beat the eggs with the thyme; Preheat the broiler and set the rack to about 8-10 inches below the heating element.
- Once the zucchini is cooked, pour in the eggs. Top with sliced tomatoes and dot with crumbles of goat cheese. Cook for 6 minutes.
- Place pan under broiler for 2-3 minutes until the top is lightly browned. Let cool for 10 minutes before slicing. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Did you try this recipe? Please leave a star rating in the recipe card below and leave a review in the comment section! I always appreciate your feedback and I know other readers do, too!
Stay in touch with me in our 
My husband and I worked together on this recipe tonight and it was wonderful. We added extras that needed to be used: red bell pepper, jalapeño, minced garlic and Gorgonzola cheese instead of goat cheese (we used less so it wouldn’t be too strong – really good). I’m pretty sure you could add most anything to this recipe and it would be just as good! Thanks!
WOW! Here I am in Bali Indonesia. I found some gorgeous baby zucchini in the local supermarket the other day and instantly thought Frittata! As I have left my recipe books back in Australia, I hopped online and found this delicious recipe.
Unable to get some ingredients, I improvised using Babybel cheese and basil instead of thyme. I also added bacon to the recipe, yum yum yummy!
Thanks so much!
Made this tonight and my husband and I ate the whole thing. It was fantastic, quick and easy. The smell was wonderful during the preparation. Next time I’ll probably use a little less butter. I used a tomato goat cheese from Happy Acres Farm in Templeton, CA–the best. I have lots of zucchini’s and tomatoes so I’ll be making this again real soon.
The recipe sounds and looks wonderful. On a side note, it was strange seeing someone else with ‘my’ name mentioned in the story. I’ve never seen my name in print before, unless it was on my pay stub, or I typed it myself in an e-mail.
Gorgeous recipe Jaden! Those tomatoes are stunning!
FABULOUS!! Those heirlooms look divine!
i am so glad i found you again-i always enjoy your recipes.
Holy cow does that look good! Haven’t made a frittata in a long time. It’s time.
I would have this for breakfast, lunch AND dinner.
“Spice it Up”
Lovely recipe! Frittatas area great way to use up leftover veggies, too.
This looks delicious and I love your photos.
Yummy!! Those tomatoes are just too gorgeous 🙂
This looks amazing…your tomatoes are gorgeous! I am making this tomorrow. I really need this book. Thanks so much, you have broken my self imposed cookbook moratorium…well it lasted two weeks. Sigh….
What a gorgeous frittata! I’m now wishing we had garden zucchini so that I could make this tomorrow… the good zucchini won’t be in here for a little while yet… can’t wait now!
Looks delicious! Your tomato just made me yearn for summer — our tomatoes don’t start appearing here in Connecticut until late July/early August — so long to wait! Love the heirloom varieties too. Green zebra is my absolute favorite. Yours looks like maybe a black krim?
I love frittata’s, and this looks so delicious! I love that the ingredients you used all came from your land (well, except the goat cheese). I grow my own herbs, and would love to own some chickens. Sadly, my community doesn’t allow homeowners to own farm animals! 🙁
This looks really delectable. And I love the tips that you give. A pinch of sugar to speed up the process of getting some really nice brown onions. Thanks for sharing
This looks like a wonderful cookbook
This is wonderful. My hubby would love this. Might have to go on the list for Father’s Day.
Thank you for your kind words about my book. And my family, of course! We’ve enjoyed our time together with yours. I’m jealous of your eggs and tomatoes. Your frittata must have been delicious!
This frittata is just beautiful, and so are those tomatoes. Oh my goodness. I can’t wait until summer!
Zucchini and tomato? What a great dish for the summer!
There is all sorts of wonderful in this frittata! The caramelized onions, the juicy meaty heirloom tomatoes…the zucchini, the cheese! It all looks melt-in-your mouth amazing. Breakfast tomorrow!
Those tomatoes look simply amazing.
This sounds so yummy! I absolutely love this idea!