A creamy bake that’s only 250 calories per serving (as a main!). The proper (fancy) name of this dish is Tian de Courgettes au Riz and it is a Julia Child recipe. It is like a cross between a gratin and risotto. Naturally healthy with no butter or cream, fabulous to serve as a side or main, and can also be prepared ahead.
**Directions to veganise this included**
My cooking revolves around what’s in season and what’s on special. On this occasion, you guessed it, my local supermarket obviously had an overstock of zucchini because they were on special at $2.40/kg (2 lb) (normally they’re $6 to $8/kg). So I bought 2 kg (that’s 4 pounds!). I couldn’t help myself – zucchini’s are so versatile, I was sure I would use them up in a week.
Hmm, I didn’t quite realise how much space 2 kg of zucchinis would take up in my fridge. So I went in hunt of a recipe that would use a lot of zucchinis and that’s when I came across Julie Child’s Tian de Courgettes au Riz (Zucchini Tian).
A “tian” is a a type of baking dish that is shallow and also describes the name of the dish that is cooked in it. It is like a gratin except the vegetables are cooked in their own juices. There were a few things that caught my eye about this recipe.
1. ALOT of zucchini – It calls for 1kg/2lb of zucchini, grated. That’s ALOT of zucchini. You wouldn’t guess there’s that much in it by looking at the photo;
2. Zucchini Juice – The cooking liquid uses the juices that sweat / are squeezed out of the zucchini. I thought that was an interesting and thrifty technique and I was curious how well it would work;
3. “Risotto Like” A lot of people enthusiastically wrote about how “risotto like” this dish was. But it only required 1/2 cup of rice (for 4 servings). “Ke? How is that possible?” I wondered. “Are people just saying nice things because it’s a Julia Child recipe?”; and
4. High Liquid to Rice Ratio – the other thing that made me really dubious was the liquid to rice ratio. The recipe calls for 2 1/2 cups of liquid (zucchini juice + milk) for 1/2 cup of rice. Using standard ratios, 1/2 rice would require 3/4 cup of water to cook. I was convinced this dish would turn out soggy with overcooked gluggy rice.
Once I made it, yet again I was reminded that you should always trust the Great Julia Child. The dish worked brilliantly. It IS risotto like – I was truly amazed how far you can stretch 1/2 cup of rice. This is partly because you use more liquid than you normally do to cook rice which makes the grains swell more. And it wasn’t soggy at all. The consistency is like a gratin – as you can see in the photo when you serve it up, it holds its shape, it isn’t gooey.
The grated zucchini makes the dish seem creamy. And the zucchini juices gives the dish a subtle zucchini fragrance that you wouldn’t otherwise get if you made it using stock, or if you sauté the zucchini to remove the liquid.
The most amazing thing about this is how healthy it is. This recipe is enough for 4 generous servings and only has 250 calories per serving. This is how you get your risotto fix guilt free!
Sorry Julia, for doubting you. You are yet to let me down. 🙂
- 1 kg / 2 lb zucchini
- 1 brown onion , finely diced (1 cup)
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 3 tbsp olive oil , separated
- 2 1/2 cups warm liquid: zucchini juices plus milk , heated in a pan (see directions)
- 2/3 cups parmesan cheese , grated
- 1/2 cup medium grain white rice (Note 6)
- 2 tbsp flour
- 2 tsp salt
- Black pepper
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Grate the zucchini and place in a large bowl. Sprinkle with 2 tsp salt and use your hands to mix through well.
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Place zucchini in a colander over a bowl to collect the juices that sweat out. Leave for at least 20 minutes.
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Squeeze the liquid out of the zucchini, straining the liquid through the colander to add to the zucchini juices collected.
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Rinse the zucchini under cold water for 15 seconds, then squeeze out excess water, but this time do not save the water that is squeezed out.
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Pat the zucchini with paper towels to mostly dry.
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Top up the zucchini juices with milk to make a total of 2 1/2 cups of liquid. Warm liquid in microwave or on the stove.
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Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a large heavy base pan over medium heat. Add garlic and onion and sauté for 8 minutes until translucent and starting to turn golden.
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Turn heat up to medium high, add the zucchini and cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
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Add flour and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
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Remove from heat. Add all but 2 tbsp of the parmesan cheese and stir quickly to combine.
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Do a taste test to check for seasoning. Add more salt if desired, and a good grind of black pepper. I do not add more salt as I don't think it is required.
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Add rice and liquid. If making ahead, stop here, then proceed with the next step on the day of serving.
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Preheat oven to 220C/425F
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Return pan to heat and bring to simmer.
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If the pan you are using is not ovenproof, pour the contents into a buttered baking dish.
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Sprinkle over the remaining 2 tbsp of parmesan cheese and drizzle over the remaining 1 tbsp of olive oil.
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Cover with lid or foil, then place in the top 1/3 of the oven.
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Bake for 15 minutes, then remove the lid/foil and bake for a further 10 to 15 minutes until the top is golden and the liquid appears to have been absorbed. (Tilt the dish slightly. If liquid pools then return to the oven for 5 minutes at a time.)
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Rest for 10 minutes. While resting, any residual liquid will be absorbed.
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Best served immediately.
1. The alternative to sprinkling salt over the grated zucchini and letting it sweat the juices out is to sauté them in batches in the pan. This is a faster method, but you won't get the same flavour in this dish as the zucchini juices are used as the stock for this dish.
2. Cooking the onions slowly makes them sweet and caramelised. You can't achieve the same result by sautéing them over high heat for a few minutes. But if you are in a rush, by all means turn up the heat and cook the onions faster.
3. When heating the zucchini juice/milk liquid, be careful not to over boil which might split the milk. Just warm it up.
4. The pan and baking dish need to be about 6 to 8 cup capacity. The oven proof pan I used is a 7 cup capacity pan.
5. To VEGANISE: Omit the parmesan cheese, do a taste test to make sure it is seasoned enough still (as the parmesan adds salt). Sprinkle the top with panko or breadcrumbs and drizzle with olive oil so you get a "crust" on the top similar to melted parmesan (well, actually, it will be even better!!) And substitute the milk with soy (or almond milk, but I prefer soy milk because almond milk has a slightly nutty flavour).
6. The medium grain white rice can be substituted with long or short grain white rice. This recipe is not suitable for: brown rice, arborio (risotto) rice, paella, basmati or jasmine rice.
7. Nutrition per serving.
I’ve been waiting all summer for zucchini overload to make this recipe. What a great way to use up a LOT of zucchini. It was a complete hit with all members of the family big and small. I could probably sit down and eat the whole pan to myself but that kinda ruins the “healthy” part. I made it exactly as written and wouldn’t change a thing. Thank you for this great dish!
Oh gosh I haven’t made this in years! Thanks for the reminder Amy! N xx
Thank God for a zucchini recipe that is perfect for using up over grown zucc’s.!
Not only did I plant them.. but my local farmers market sells over grown zucc’s much cheaper..
Perfect! Thanks Nagi.
So glad you enjoyed this Mary!! Wow it’s been ages since I tried this, I’ve got to give it a go! N x
Hi Nagi,
So I got a little cocky in the cooking process and thought “wow, I have the full amount of zucchini juice, I don’t even need to add milk. I must be a zucchini sweat pro!” then 10 mins before taking out of the oven it hit me: “It was 2 1/2 cups, not 1 1/2, wasn’t it.” @[email protected] oops! Still turned out delicious and very risotto like, rice was miraculously well cooked, but now I definitely need to make it again ASAP and properly!
I was wondering what you thought about omitting the onion, because I know someone who really doesn’t like it in anything, no matter how it’s prepared (they may have a physical sensitivity to it). Would just starting with garlic turn out ok, do you think? The onion seems to add to the overall consistency of the dish, in addition to taste, so I wasn’t sure.
Thanks so much for another wonderful recipe, it’s really a joy to use your site. 🙂
Hi Phoebe, so glad you enjoyed this still! If you can use leeks that would be a terrific sub but otherwise, leave it out 🙂 N xx
Hi Nagi! Could you please tell me the approximate size/volume of the baking dish/pan you’d use for this?
Oops, just realised you already mentioned this in the notes! :’)
No worries! 🙂 N x
My family loved this – made to use up a surplus of zucchini from my garden. Made exactly to recipe. Saving the recipe in my recipe tin!
That’s terrific to hear Julie! Thanks for taking the time to let me know – N x
Hello! I know that this was posted a while ago but I’m hoping you can help 🙂 can I bake this at 350°f and, if so, for how long? Thank you!!
Hi Megan! You sure can, it will just take a bit longer 🙂 Maybe another 10 – 15 minutes?
Hi Nagi I’m currently obsessed with zucchini and can’t wait to try this recipe. Do you have any thoughts on substituting the rice for farro? Do you think that could work?
Hi Guilia! I’m not sure I’m sorry 🙂 The liquid to rice ratio in this is pretty particular!
Zucchini is one of my fave veggies! Thanks for the recipe ideas.
OMG thank you for reminding me of this recipe! I MUST make this again soon! N x
Just made this for lunch. The renovation workers at my home in France loved it!
My zucchini had only a tablespoon of water after draining for 2 hours so I just added it to the pan without squeezing. I added the rice to the pan and let it cook with the zucc. I also added herbs de provence and used pecorino instead of parm.
You can use water instead of milk but you need some sort of fat equal to the amount of flour to thicken the base. The sauce thickened up well and was absorbed by the rice creating a light béchamel. The rice also releases start to thicken the sauce so you need to add more starch if you use brown rice. You can use any type of rice if you par-cook it before using -leaving the last 15 minutes for it to cook in the sauce. I used the same pan in the oven as on the stove with a lid while the rice cooked, which I removed after 25 minutes for browning. I was surprised how lovely it tasted! Very complex flavour, light and creamy without too much fat. Will make this again and again.
I’m so glad you enjoyed this Susan!! Thank you!!! 🙂
This was fantastic and very easy to make. I used basmati rice as that was what was in the pantry and a local Egyptian hard cheese instead of parmesan. It’s a 3-hour drive for me to get to a supermarket that has parmesan! Absolutely delicious recipe and the basmati worked fine.
Oooh, this is so cool, hearing that you live in Egypt and made this!! 🙂 I’m also glad to hear you enjoyed it with basmati rice 🙂 And YES to local cheese in place of parmesan! Actually, any flavoured cheese will be just delicious in this. Thank you for coming bak to let me know you enjoyed this Kathy! 🙂
Can this dish be frozen – I’m a single person and not got 4 people to feed unfortunately but often cook in batches and freeze my meals, but not sure how this would be if I froze it.
Hi Jennifer! This has a risotto-like consistency so unfortunately I don’t think it will work well to freeze. Sorry!! It lasts for a couple of days though, I have sent friends home with leftovers and they said it was still delicious 2 days after!
thank you so much for this recipe, i’ve tried it today and it was delicious! (: definitely going to write it down (:
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Isn’t it incredible, how low the calories are and yet it tastes so creamy?? Thank you for taking the time to come back and let me know! 🙂 N x
What kind of rice? I used brown rice but it was crunchy? Could you make some suggestions for varieties of rice to use/try?
Hi Amber – brown rice will be crunchy because it takes longer to cook than white rice. 🙁 I recommend medium grain white rice but you could use short of long grain white rice if that’s what you have.
Just wondering if anyone thinks quinoa would be a successful substitute for the rice in this recipe?
Hi Emma! It will work if you increase the liquid amount by 3/4 cup. But the texture won’t be quite the same because rice is squishier than quinoa (does that make sense?!). Love to know if you try it though!
This Zucchini Tian was delicious. I have made it several times! It will be a constant “go to” recipe for our household.:-)
Thank you so much for coming back to share that Leslie! I love this so much – Julie child is a legend!!
Thanks for a great recipe, this has become a favorite at our house!!!
Oh wow Brianna, thanks so much! I’m so glad you like it! Julia Child is a LEGEND. I love this recipe, it’s so unique! (And so healthy!)
I love that you gave an option to Veganise this meal! However what about the milk that is needed for the warm liquid in the first step to preparing the gratin? Is there a substitute you can suggest for that?
Hi Kim! I’m sorry, I forgot about that part 🙂 I substitute with soy milk. You could also sub with almond milk but I find that the nutty taste doesn’t quite work with this recipe. I’ve updated the recipe for this, so thank you for the comment!
I have this in the oven right now. It looks and smells AMAZING! I can’t wait to taste… Thanks for a yummy recipe!
Wish I was at your house!! It does smell amazing, doesn’t it? You’ve inspired me to make it again soon!
Yum!!! I love risotto and don’t really mind the 20 minutes of stirring but like that this is a lower calorie version. Will let you know how it turns our for my Galley Kat version. Keep those recipes coming Nagi!
Thanks for dropping by Kathy! I know you like French food so I thought you might like this!
Hi Nagi,
Looks amazing and delicious! Love the colour of the zucchini and Parmesan cheese in the dish. Looks so rich and appetizing. Can’t believe it has only 250 calories/serve. Not everyone can cook a Julia Child recipe like you can though. 🙂
This is a REALLY easy one. I completely agree, a lot of her recipes can be quite tricky, I tried (and failed miserably) a duck recipe of hers once which involved deboning a duck 🙁 But this one is super easy!