Paleo and Vegan Zucchini Gratin Recipe

I have a love affair with zucchini. Something about its taste, texture, and versatility make me want to buy it and use it as often as I can. Some of the most delicious dishes I've ever made have been based on zucchini (if you haven't tried my creamy zucchini soup, in my opinion, it is out of this world) and the fact that I can typically find it being sold relatively cheaply (39 cents a pound is the standard price I pay) make it my go to vegetable.
I made up this zucchini gratin the other day when I was looking for something delicious to do with zucchini that wasn't soup or in a stir fry, and thought- why not gratin? This isn't the typical gratin though, since it is entirely vegan, gluten free, paleo, etc... so instead of cheese you have nutritional yeast, and instead of bread crumbs, you have almond flour. I love this recipe so much that I have made it multiple times since, and hopefully your family will love it as much as my guests, my husband, and I did. (My kids, alas, as not as big zucchini fans as I am, and I have one kid who refuses to eat zucchini unless I make it invisible, such as in my creamy zucchini soup.)
Though I wrote an exact recipe, feel free to play around with these ingredients as you can't go wrong following this method and using these ingredients.

Paleo and Vegan Zucchini Gratin Recipe

Ingredients:
2 extra large zucchini, or 3-4 medium zucchinis
1 medium onion
1/4-1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8-1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1-2 heaping tablespoons potato starch, tapioca starch, or corn starch
1/2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1 tablespoon olive oil or other oil of choice
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried dill
Topping:
1 cup almond meal or breadcrumbs if not gluten free
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
1/2 teaspoon salt

Instructions:
1. Slice your zucchini in thin even slices. A mandolin works perfectly for this, but if not, a knife also works just as well. Slice your onion as well.

2. Mix together all the ingredients other than the topping ingredients in a large bowl, making sure its uniform.

3. Pile your zucchini into baking dishes. I used one moderately sized one and a ramekin, 3-4 ramekins would work or a large casserole dish or an 8x8 pan or even a 9x13 pan. Remember when you're filling it that your zucchini will shrink down when cooked and the pan will look much more empty than it started out. I started mine with zucchini piled up over the top of the dish, in a mountain shape, and when cooked it flattened out to be level, more or less, so you can fill a dish more than you think you can.

4. Mix the topping ingredients and sprinkle them on top of the zucchini in a thick layer, trying to make the topping as even as possible.

5. Bake covered at 350 degrees for about 35-45 minutes, then another 15-20 minutes until starting to brown on top and the zucchini is fully soft. You can really cook this as long or as short as you like- the zucchini will simply get softer the longer you cook it, so it is a matter of preference.

Enjoy!

Are you a fan of zucchini? What is your favorite way to prepare it?

Do you like to prepare gratins? What are your favorite things to make gratin style?

Does this look like a recipe you'd try?