What’s that? You’ve got too much zucchini? (You know you always do in the summer.) How about making Zucchini & Ricotta Pie – it’s a great way to use a whole bunch of the prolific veggie.

a slice of zucchini pie on a white plate.

My Heirloom Tomato Pie is one of our favorite summer recipes. I was thinking about new ways to use zucchini and I thought I’d try making a similar pie using zucchini in place of tomatoes.

Most “zucchini pie” recipes that you find are really a sort of quiche or frittata.

Remember that zucchini is actually a fruit. So let’s treat it like a fruit and bake it into a true-blue zucchini pie.

Ingredients

How to make Zucchini & Ricotta Pie:

See the recipe card for detailed measurements and instructions.

Slice the zucchini nice and thin, about 1/8″-1/4″, and it will nestle nicely into the pie.

all the components of zucchini pie ready for assembly on a wood surface.

Par bake the pie shell and gather all the ingredients.
Once all the components are ready, the pie comes together very quickly.

layered ingredients in a pie plate for zucchini pie

Layer the zucchini, cheese, bacon and tomatoes into the pie shell.

a pie plate with zucchini slices layered in it.

End with a layer of zucchini the top with bread crumbs and cheese.

Allow the pie to rest at room temperature for an hour before cutting. If you cut it too soon the layers will slide apart.
The pie can be eaten warm, room temperature or even chilled. It’s best the day it is baked.

Tips for making (and adapting) Zucchini & Ricotta Pie:

Slice the zucchini very thin. This make layering the slices into the pie easier.
Make sure to salt and blot the zucchini to take out extra moisture.
You can swap out any of the added ingredients, but do use some flavorful add-ins since zucchini on it’s own is fairly bland.
You can use goat cheese instead of ricotta cheese.
You can use speck or pancetta instead of bacon.
For a vegetarian pie, leave out the meat altogether.
I made a quick tomato sauce for the pie, but you can use canned tomatoes or chunks of heirloom tomatoes.
Bake the pie until the juices are bubbling in the middle. You can lift up a piece of zucchini in the center to check.

Storage

Zucchini and Ricotta pie will keep at room temperature for 3-4 hours, in the refrigerator for 3-4 days and leftovers can be frozen.

More Zucchini Recipes

Of course this pie is wonderful made with classic Flaky Pie Dough, but it’s also really great with Cornmeal Pie Dough, Whole Wheat Pie Dough or Rye Pie Dough.

If you love this recipe as much as I do, I’d really appreciate a 5-star review.

Print Recipe

4.60 from 5 reviews

Zucchini & Ricotta Pie Recipe

By: Eileen Gray

This recipe treats zucchini like the fruit that it is. Thin slices of zucchini are layered with tomatoes and ricotta. You can swap in your favorite cheese and herbs to make it your own.

Prep Time45

Bake Time1 15

Cooling Time1

Total Time3

8 slices

Save Recipe

Ingredients

½ recipe Perfect Pie Crust
24 oz zucchini
1 teaspoon table salt
6 slices bacon (chopped into 1/2″ pieces)
1 large onion (chopped)
3 cloves garlic (minced)
2 cups chopped tomatoes
8 oz ricotta cheese
1 cup basil leaves (minced)
½ cup Parmesan Cheese (grated P)
1 egg
½ cup Panko bread crumbs
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 °F. Roll the pie dough and line a 9" pie pan, flute the edges with your fingers or a fork. Using a fork, prick the bottom of the pie shell 10-12 times. Allow the pie shell to rest in the refrigerator while you prepare the zucchini
Trim the ends from 24 oz zucchini and cut into 1/8" thin slices. Toss the zucchini slices with 1 teaspoon table salt and set aside for 30 minutes. Rinse and drain the zucchini and line in single layers on paper towels to blot the excess moisture.
Remove the pie shell from the refrigerator. Line the pie shell with aluminum foil and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Press the beans or pie weights all the way across the pan to ensure the sides of the shell won't slip as it bakes. Bake the pie shell until it's very pale beige.
While the pie shell is baking, cook 6 slices bacon until crispy and drain on a paper towel. Drain all but 1 tablespoon of the bacon fat from the pan. Saute 1 large onion, chopped with until soft and just beginning to brown. Add 3 cloves garlic (minced) and 2 cups chopped tomatoes to the onions and cook until it's the consistency of a thick sauce. Adjust seasoning of the sauce to taste.
Combine 8 oz ricotta cheese, 1 cup basil leaves and half the Parmesan. Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper to taste. Add 1 egg to the ricotta mix
Sprinkle half of the bread crumbs across the bottom of the pie shell.
Place 1/4 of the zucchini slices into the pie shell. Spread about 1/3 of the ricotta cheese over the zucchini. Spread 1/3 of the tomato sauce over the ricotta and sprinkle 1/3 of the bacon bits over the tomato sauce.
Continue layering the zucchini, ricotta, tomato sauce and bacon, ending with a layer of zucchini.
Combine the remaining 1/4 cup of Parmesan and bread crumbs and sprinkle evenly over the top of the pie.
Bake for 1 hour to 1 1/4 hours until the top of the pie is browned and the juices are bubbling in the middle of the pie.
Cool for at least one hour before slicing so the juices can reabsorb.
Serve warm or at room temperature. Left overs are nice slightly chilled.