Monday, March 23, 2009

New twist on a retro fave.... Zucchini Slice.... and it was nice....

The Monday night theme of cooking decent healthy meals seems to be continuing nicely at Chez H. In fact if it’s become routine, then I’m happy about it as it not only means I used all the fresh stuff I bought on the weekend straight away, but that I have lunches for the week as well as dinner waiting for me after yoga on Tuesday nights.... it’s very sensible. And sensible is something that I’m not, usually...

So, I finally made it to the Subi Station Street markets on Saturday and adopted a massive pile of luscious healthy vegies, some sexy bread from Lawley’s and some funky ‘n fun liquorice (from a new stall that’s just popped up - they have a heap of fruity flavours like sour cola, sour lemon ‘n lime, mango, berry as well as the usual liquorice. Go check it out!) and was determined to eat super healthy all week (bar the licquorice) and so far, I’m going good.

One of the best market bargains were really big fresh zucchini’s for 99c so I thought I’d grab a pair in anticipation of making my first zucchini slice.... which is something I’ve been meaning to do forever. It just seems so retro and happy homemaker that it was on my list of things to bake, and I think it worked out OK...?! I also got a huge cauliflower that is taking up far too much space in my fridge, so hence the adaptation of adding cauli in with zucchini... which again, was a very sensible idea! Here’s the recipe that I ‘tweaked’ from a really popular Aussie version that seems to be everywhere on the web (I think it may have been a AWW number).

Zucchini, Cauliflower & Cacciatore Slice

1 large onion, finely chopped
200g cacciatore (or salami or chorizo), diced
¼ cup dry white wine
1 tsp chicken stock powder
1 tsp garlic, crushed
6 eggs
½ cup skim milk
1 cup self-raising flour, sifted
Pinch nutmeg
1 cup Zucchini, grated
1 cup Cauliflower, finely chopped (exclude stalks if possible)
½ cup red Capsicum, chopped finely
½ cup Mushrooms, chopped finely
½ cup grated cheddar cheese
½ cup breadcrumbs
½ cup Parmesan cheese, grated
Pepper
Paprika

Preheat oven to 170°C. Grease your pan (I used a lasagne dish as this makes a fair quantity).

Sauté onion in a splash of EVOO in a pan until soft and slightly brown. Sprinkle with stock powder, add garlic and wine and simmer until liquid has evaporated and onions are translucent. Remove onion and set aside. In the same pan, lightly fry the diced cacciatore until slightly crisp. Drain on a paper towel and set aside with onions.

In a food-processor, whiz up the zucchini, cauliflower, mushrooms and capsicum until it is finely chopped (only give it a quick blast if you prefer yours chunky). Remove to a large bowl along with the onions and cacciatore.

In the same processor, whiz the eggs until beaten. Add sifted flour and nutmeg and blast again until smooth (at this point, wipe the bowl down with a spatula for any missed bits). Add milk until whiz until well combined and the consistency of thick cream (add more milk if you are using more vegies).

Add the wet mix to the vegetables, along with the cheddar cheese and stir well to combine. Pour into the prepared pan, sprinkle with parmesan, breadcrumbs, pepper and paprika. Bake in oven for 30 minutes or until cooked through. Allow to cool slightly in the pan before serving.

(adapted from a recipe on http://www.taste.com.au/)

Tasting Notes

  • This is super healthy, quick and filling - although it was a little blander than I expected – I will definitely make this again, however I would like to give it a bit more ‘oomph’ so will have to have a bit of a play with it. Right now, I’m thinking some chopped artichokes would be a lovely addition, as well as perhaps some olives?
  • I actually much preferred this cold for lunch the next day, as to when I ate it warm from the oven. It seemed to set much better and it also allowed the flavours to mingle and mature
  • The original recipe called for bacon. I opted to use the cacciatore to balance out the blandness of the zuch and cauli. It also did not use cauliflower, milk or capsicum – these I added and I’m glad I did
  • Seriously, I think you could throw whatever you liked into this and it would be nice... it's a very basic recipe that would take whatever you had in the fridge
  • This would serve say 4 adults.... so far I've had 2 meals and I still have heaps left over! I don't know if you could freeze it, but I guess its worth a try!

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