This pie is similar to a baked frittata/crustless quiche kind of thing, which I often make for dinner. You could add cooked bacon, or ham or maybe even fish to this one. But we are having a vegetarian friend coming over for dinner tonight, so we will stick to a non-meaty version. (Ms P., our poet friend from Tasmania said later that she loved this!)
(Edit: Forgot to say that the book is called Meals without Meat by Alison and Simon Holst. Also forgot to say that our dear friend is Pam Schindler poet extraordinaire; her books include A Sky you could fall into, and Say, a river. I think her poems are simply marvellous!)
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| golden and smelling heavenly (I suggest lining the dish with baking paper) |
Serves 6-8:
ingredients:
500g./18 oz zucchini, grated see Notes
1 onion, grated
2 garlic cloves, chopped finely or thrown into the food processor with the onion
200g./7 oz mushrooms, chopped or sliced (fairly finely)
4 large eggs
180g./6.3 oz cheddar/vintage cheese, grated
1/2 tsp sea salt
95g./3.4 oz self-raising flour
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1/2-1 tsp mushroom powder (optional)
a dash of dried chilli flakes, if you please
herbs of your choice, chopped (I used parsley and chives)
extra grated cheese for the top (optional) (I used Parmesan)
tomato slices for the top (optional) (but you know how I feel about tomatoes, so it's a no from me)
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| you guessed it! Zucchini it is! |
Method:
Place the grated zucchini, onion and garlic in a large mixing bowl, and add the chopped mushrooms
Add the eggs, cheese and salt to the bowl, and give it all a good mixing with a fork
In go the flour, black pepper, mushroom powder, chilli flakes and chopped herbs, which you stir in well
Grab a large baking dish or 2 x 23cm/9 inch cake or pie tins, and butter them well (or use an oil spray if you must) - you can add some baking paper to the bottom if you feel so inclined see Notes
Pour this mixture into your tin or dish, and add tomato slices over the top if you fancy, and extra grated cheddar or parmesan cheese if you feel the need for even more cheese
Bake at 200C/400F for 25-40 minutes! You want the top golden, and the centre feeling firm (says Alison) (Mine took about 35 minutes)
Let it sit and think about its life choices for 5 minutes, before slicing and serving with a green salad
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| red onions |
Notes:
I suggest using the grating blade on your food processor, and letting it do the work: place the onion and garlic into the bowl and give it a good whizzing, then add the zucchini and whizz away till grated
I used my enamel baking dish, which is 30cm/12 in x 25cm/10 in, but I figured with the extra ingredients like the mushrooms, I will need a bit more space than Alison says to use (and yes, it fitted perfectly!)
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| I love me some chives! |
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| gather your ingredients |
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| Mr P. takes the helm of the food processor to grate the veg. |
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| grated veg. courtesy of Mr P.! |
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| tip the ingredients into your large mixing bowl, my friends! |
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| grate some Parmesan for the top |
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| golden and slightly springy to the touch |
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| add a bit of salad to your plate |
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| and have some proper gelato with fruit for dessert |
We bought this fabulous gelato from a local place - Miss Sophia's Gelateria, - which is dangerously close to us :=). It is SO delicious; our Tassie mate said she had never had better, except in Italy. And she should know, as she has very recently returned from her writing residency in Tuscany!
Ooh, I meant to tell you: Mr P. and I gave a talk at our local Historical Society on an interesting place we lived in back in our younger days. If you'd like to listen (it's only 14 minutes long), you can access it on my Facebook page - Sherry Mackay - dated 7th September.
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