Stanley Tucci turned to Instagram with a recipe for concia di zucchine, a popular Roman dish built around summer zucchini and a short list of pantry ingredients. He said the dish is what you get in Rome very often as an appetizer and added, “They’re really good—I haven’t made them for a long time.”
The post is landing now because zucchini is everywhere, and Tucci’s version is easy enough for home cooks to use up a large squash without much fuss. He also has form here: in 2022, he went viral for raving about Spaghetti alla Nerano, another Italian favorite that drew far more attention than a standard cooking clip usually would.
Concia di zucchine is traditionally made with fried zucchini marinated in olive oil, garlic, mint and white wine vinegar, then left to rest so the flavors sink in. Tucci’s version keeps the same four ingredients but skips the frying step, instead sautéing thinly sliced zucchini rounds in olive oil and garlic before adding vinegar and mint. The recipe he shared calls for 1 large zucchini, thinly sliced in rounds or lengthwise, cooked in a large skillet over medium heat until lightly browned and tender, then transferred to a bowl.
That is where the video leaves off in a way that matters. Concia di zucchine is meant to be served chilled, and the zucchini is normally cooled in the bowl overnight so the vinegar, garlic and mint can do their work. Tucci’s instructions do say to chill the zucchini in the refrigerator until cool before serving, but the clip does not linger on the full cold rest that gives the dish its name and character. It is not clear from the video whether he let it sit long enough to pick up that deeper flavor.
For readers staring at extra summer zucchini, the recipe is a useful one because it works both as an appetizer and as a side for meat or fish. Tucci rarely hands over a real recipe in his videos, which makes this post stand out more than a typical food clip. Whether he follows it with a fuller version or another Italian dish remains to be seen, but the immediate answer is already there: this is a pared-back Roman classic, made easier for a weeknight kitchen.
