We are always looking for ways to use our gorgeous homegrown glossy green courgettes. This is our take on an Italian dish called Scarpaccia which loosely means ‘bad shoe’ because its as thin as a bad shoe apparently! It does make a very thin courgette tart for sure. The courgettes are very thinly sliced and the juice is extracted with salt but not wasted as it goes into the batter. We love the zero waste here.
Most of the recipes I came across used cornmeal but I used dried panko breadcrumbs in their place and it worked out just fine.
This is a gorgeous recipe to try, let us know if you do.
Lou 🙂
Ingredients: makes 6 slices
- 3 courgette(800g)- very finely sliced
- 1 red onion – very finely sliced
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
- 1 cup plain flour
- ¼ cup dried panko breadcrumbs or cornmeal – this ingredient is important to give a crisp texture not mushy.
- 2 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- Pinch black pepper
Method:
Step 1: Use a mandoline if you have one to finely slice the courgettes and red onion, 2-3mm thick. Then add the slices to a large mixing bowl. Sprinkle in the salt and toss through with your hands to coat in the salt, 2-3 minutes. Put a plate on top and a weight like a couple of tins to help extract all the liquid. Leave this for 2 hours.
Step 2: Preheat the oven 180ºC and oil a baking tray really well, 9 x 13 inch is what I used. After this time, use a cheesecloth or clean kitchen towel. Add the vegetables and squeeze out the extra liquid. The courgette juice will be used for the batter. To the juice add in the flour, dried panko breadcrumbs, fresh thyme leaves, nutritional yeast and black pepper, whisk well it should look like pancake batter. Then add the vegetables back in and stir to coat. **If the batter seems very thick add a small dash of water.
Step 3: Pour the mix into the baking tray and use a spoon to smooth out evenly.
Step 4: Bake for 30-40 minutes until cooked through and golden on top.
Slice and enjoy with a fresh seasonal salad.
