Zucchini Recipes

Zucchini Bread Recipe

Ingredients

2 eggs, beaten
1 1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 cups grated fresh zucchini
2/3 cup melted unsalted butter
2 teaspoons baking soda
Pinch salt
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)
1 cup dried cranberries or raisins (optional)
Method

1 Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). In a large bowl, mix together the sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Mix in the grated zucchini and then the melted butter. Sprinkle baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in. Add the flour, a third at a time. Sprinkle in the cinnamon and nutmeg and mix. Fold in the nuts and dried cranberries or raisins if using.

2 Divide the batter equally between 2 buttered 5 by 9 inch loaf pans. Bake for 1 hour (check for doneness at 50 minutes) or until a wooden pick inserted in to the center comes out clean. Cool in pans for 10 minutes. Turn out onto wire racks to cool thoroughly.

Makes 2 loaves.


Zucchini potato pancakes

1 medium zucchini

1 big russet or baking potato (you want the amount of potato and zucchini to be approximately equal)

1 egg

½ tsp salt

Sour cream or sour yoghurt for serving

Chopped chives (are very nice on top!)

Grate the potato and zucchini, and squeeze out as much water as possible, as described above. Mix with one beaten egg, and the salt, and let sit while you bring your pan up over medium heat,

When ready, add a generous spoonful of butter (you could also use a neutral tasting vegetable oil here if you’d prefer) and let melt.

Add the potato mixture to the pan with a spoon, and form pancakes of the desired size. Don’t worry about trying to form them before you add to the pan, just plop the mixture in with a spoon, and then flatten it out once in the pan. Thinner pancakes are tastier than thicker, and also cook more easily, with less chance of burning.

Keep frying for about 4 minutes per side, or until nicely browned and crisped. Blot and excess oil with paper towels, and serve with sour cream or yogurt, and freshly snipped chives.

Zucchini works very well in this recipe, but you can substitute other combos if you'd prefer, and as the seasons change (Potato/carrot, potato/sweet potato etc).

On the side or on their own, these crunchy brown zucchini potato pancakes are always delicious!


Cold Zucchini Yogurt Mint Soup

Ingredients:

1 large bunch green onions, chopped
2 tsp olive oil
8 medium zucchini, sliced thin
3 cups chicken stock, vegetable stock or water
salt and pepper to taste
3 Tbsp fresh mint, chopped
1 cup Greek yogurt (can substitute with 3/4 cup plain yogurt)
juice of one lemon

Directions:

Heat a saucepan over a medium-high flame. Add the olive oil and green onions and saute 3-4 minutes, until the onions have softened. Do not let them brown; lower the heat if you have to.

Now add the zucchini, sprinkle with salt, and continue cooking for a few minutes, until the zucchini starts to soften. Add enough stock or water to just cover the zucchini - any more and the soup will be too thin. Cover the pot and cook about 7 minutes, until the vegetables are just cooked through. Remove the pot from the heat and cool to room temperature.

When the soup has cooled, add the chopped mint and the yogurt. Using a hand-held immersion blender, puree the soup in the pot. (You can also transfer the soup to a regular blender for this step.) When the soup is smooth, stir in the lemon juice, taste, and adjust the salt and pepper. Chill in the refrigerator at least two hours and up to several days.

Before serving, taste the soup again - once it's chilled you'll probably need to add more salt, and possibly more lemon juice.
Serve decorated with sprigs of mint.

Serves 4-6 as a first course.