No Pre-Cooking Needed: This Quick Zucchini Pie Recipe Guarantees Success Every Time!

As the warm weather sets in, zucchini becomes a star in the vegetable basket. It’s sautéed, baked into savory cakes, turned into a cold soup, or made into a gratin. And of course, it’s a popular ingredient in pies. Whether paired with some goat cheese or feta, on a bed of mustard or pesto, it promises a convivial and delicious summer lunch.

However, zucchini pies can often turn out less than perfect. Despite following the baking instructions to the letter, the crust can end up soggy or even mushy when you were hoping for a golden brown finish. This is due to the high water content in zucchini, which releases moisture when heated in the oven. The result is a pie that collapses when you try to slice it.

To address this issue, many cooks pre-cook the zucchini. Some sauté it for a few minutes, others bake it before laying it on the crust. While effective, this method adds extra dishes, uses more energy, and requires more prep time. Another common technique is to pre-bake the pie crust to make it more impermeable. However, this also means using pie weights or dried beans and keeping the oven on longer.

Pascale Weeks, however, shares a much simpler solution on her Instagram account that allows you to skip the pre-cooking step. After slicing the zucchini into 2-3 mm thick rounds, she places them in a bowl, sprinkles them with salt, and mixes well. She then lets them sit for about 20 minutes to naturally release excess water. After this time, she drains them in a colander and pats them dry with paper towels before using them in her recipe.

The salt acts like a sponge, drawing out some of the water from the vegetables. This way, the zucchini remains tender after baking but releases far less moisture into the oven.

The result is a crust that stays dry. A simple trick that undoubtedly saves time… and adds crispiness! This makes it easy to bake perfect zucchini pies all summer long!