Sauteed Zucchini with Sweet Onions

I had half a zucchini sitting in the fridge, leftover from the last summer gratin that I had made that I needed to use before the next round of veggies came in. I turned to one of my favorite cookbooks The Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking and thumbed through Marcella Hazan's zucchini recipes before settling on on for sauteed zucchini. The recipe, like so many from Essentials, had only 3 ingredients- zucchini, onions and butter (and salt and pepper, but I don't really count them as ingredients) all of which I had on hand so I set to work.

First, I sliced the onions and started them cooking in butter (about half the amount called for in the recipe). While the onions were cooking, I sliced the zucchini as thinly and uniformly as I could (which wasn't all the think or uniform but I did try) and when the onions had turned a golden brown, I added the zucchini, along with a good pinch of salt, and cooked it until the zucchini as cooked down but still retained its shape and color. We ate the zucchini for lunch and it was delicious and rather decadent in it's buttery goodness. I don't usually (make that ever) cook vegetables in butter, so this dish was a real treat. It also made me realize that a bit of butter, judiciously used, can take a vegetable from just ok to something really good that you actually want to eat.

Sauteed Zucchini with Sweet Onions
Adapted from The Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking
Serves 2 for lunch or 4 as a side dish

1 lb. zucchini
1 small onion, sliced sliced into half moons
2 T. butter
salt and pepper to taste

- In a medium skillet, heat the butter over medium then add the onions and cook till just golden brown.

- While the onions are cooking, slice the zucchini into the thinnest rounds you can. If your zucchini is monster sized, slice it lengthwise first, then into slices. When the onions have browned, add the zucchini to the pan and stir to coat with the butter. Increase heat to medium high and continue to cook until the zucchini has reduced by 1/3 to 1/2 in volume and tender. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve immediatley.