Cheesy Courgette Bread AKA Zucchini Bread

Tags

bread, Cheese, courgette, savoury, zucchini

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This quick and delicious bread is about as easy as it gets.  No mixers, no kneading but here are a few little handy tips to ensure it turns out perfectly each time.

Firstly, you must squeeze all the water out of the grated courgette.  This is really important or your bread will not cook and will remain a sticky, dense mess stuck to the bottom of your pan.  Believe me, this happened to me the first time.  There is no need to peel the courgettes though. Use a box grater to grate the veggies then squeeze all the water out firstly with your hands then using a clean dish towel wrap the grated courgette in it and wring it out with all your might.  Now, measure that you have about 1 ½ cups, packed very tightly.

Regarding the cheese, use a strong cheese.  I used a vintage gouda or you could use an aged cantal or vintage cheddar, something with lots of flavour.
For the herbs, I used basil and chives from my garden but feel free to improvise and use what you have on hand.  If you do not have any fresh herbs handy, do not despair, a few teaspoons of dried herbs will do.

In this recipe I used milk and vinegar to basically make my own buttermilk as it is not always something I have around, especially in times of limited shopping and lockdown.  If you have buttermilk, use 1 cup of that and leave out the vinegar.  Otherwise making your own buttermilk is the easiest thing ever: for one cup of milk, (I used full fat but you may use low fat if you prefer), add 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar, mix and allow to sit for about 10 minutes. How easy was that?

For an extra cheesy version, sprinkle the top of the loaf with a few tablespoons of cheese and place under the grill for a few minutes.
Freezes beautifully too.

Yields: 1 loaf

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups grated courgette (2 medium)
1 ½ cups grated cheese
2 tablespoons chopped fresh herbs (basil & chives)
2 cups / 250g flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup / 250ml milk
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 egg
3 tablespoons melted butter

Method:

Preheat oven to 180°C / 350°F
Spray a 23cm X 13cm (9″ x 5″) bread tin with non-stick cooking spray
Mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl
In another bowl, mix the milk and vinegar and allow to sit for a few minutes (or use buttermilk)
Add to the milk, the egg and butter and stir
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients until just combined – do NOT overmix
Add the courgette, cheese and fresh herbs
Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean
Allow the bread to cool for 10 to 15 minutes in the tin
Remove from tin and place on a cooling rack for at least 15 minutes before slicing
Add lots of butter and serve
Bon Appétit!

Courgette Cake with cream cheese icing

Tags

baby marrows, cake, courgette, cream cheese, frosting, icing, loaf, marrow, teatime, walnuts, zucchini

This is a wonderful, light anytime cake that’s not too sweet. Excellent way to use up all those giant courgettes from the garden!

It can be eaten plain or with a cream cheese lemon frosting, which bumps it up to the next level.

Ingredients:

• 200g (7 oz) grated courgette
• 150g (5 oz) caster sugar
• 1 egg
• 125ml (4 fl oz) vegetable oil
• 200g (7 oz) flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons lemon zest
• 8 walnuts, chopped roughly

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 160C / 325F
Grease a loaf tin
In a bowl, beat together the courgette, sugar, egg and oil
In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, salt, bicarbonate of soda and baking powder
Stir in the cinnamon, lemon zest and walnuts
Stir the flour mixture into the courgette mixture just until blended
Pour the batter into the prepared tin
Bake 45 minutes until a knife inserted in the centre comes out clean
Remove from heat and cool about 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely
Enjoy!

For a cream cheese frosting:
Mix together 1 packet Philadelphia cream cheese, 225g / 8oz, with 3 tablespoons mascarpone
Add the juice of a freshly squeezed lemon and/or zest
Blend well with 1 cup icing (powdered) sugar
Voila!

 

Sweet potatoes with courgettes and chickpeas – Tunisian style

Tags

bacon, chickpeas, courgette, lunch, sweet potato, vegetarian

I am still trying to find innovative and different ways to use up my courgettes. I seem to harvest at least 2 to 3 every day at the moment and I also happened to have a beautiful sweet potato on hand so this is how a quick and easy weekday lunch was put together. Wanting to make it a little different and being inspired by Ottolenghi, as I was just browsing some of this recipes earlier in the day, I decided to add chick peas and harissa (Harissa  is a Tunisian hot chili pepper paste, the main ingredients of which are roasted red peppers, Baklouti pepper, serrano peppers and other hot chili peppers and spices and herbs such as garlic paste, coriander seed, saffron, caraway as well as some vegetable or olive oil for preservation. It is most closely associated with Tunisia, Libya and Algeria) to give it a Tunisian slant. Some fresh cilantro et voilà!

Serves 2

Ingredients:

1 large sweet potato
1 courgette, cut into small cubes
120 g / 4 oz lardons or bacon, cut into small pieces (optional)
1/2 can chickpeas
1 cup fresh tomato purée or crushed tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon harissa
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Cilantro, fresh, chopped roughly

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 200 C / 400 F
Wash but do not peel a large sweet potato, prick it with a fork and wrap in aluminum foil
Bake for 75 minutes
Meanwhile, in a skillet over medium high heat, cook the lardons for a minute
Add the courgettes and lower heat to medium, cook about 5 minutes
Add the chickpeas, the tomatoes, the harissa and the salt and pepper
Allow to simmer about 10 minutes
Sprinkle with cilantro
When the sweet potato is cooked, cut it in two but not the whole way through
Spoon the mixture into the potato, add more cilantro if you wish
Serve with some plain Greek yogurt mixed with harissa
Enjoy!