Zucchini and Carrot Slice

Zucchini and Carrot Slice
Home Cooking

When it comes to baking, it's not hard to find a host of sweet recipes. I went through a few and got a bit overwhelmed by sweetness. There's only so much sugar I can handle! It was time to find something salty, and I don't just mean in the form of salted caramel or the likes.

I had zucchini in my fridge and a couple of carrots too. I hate eating carrots raw but I like them in baked products so I was glad when I found this recipe for zucchini and carrot slices. It sounded reasonably healthy too so I figured it would be a good idea for workday lunches.


I detect the act of grating so I thought I'd be smart and grate everything with my food processor. Because it's new, I'm not totally familiar with the settings. My zucchini and carrot got smushed to a pulp. I then realized I needed a coarser blade. The onion and cheese went through alright. Differing from the original recipe, I used 2 x zucchinis and 1 x carrot, only because that was what I had on hand. I think it may affect the moisture content of the slice. My slices still set though, once they'd cooled down. They kept their shape on reheating too. I also omitted garlic and used olive oil instead of rice bran oil.

Zucchini and Carrot Slice
Makes 10; ~ 4-6 serves

Ingredients:

• 2 medium zucchinis, grated
• 1 medium carrot, peeled and grated
• 1 medium brown onion, finely chopped
• 100g sliced leg ham, finely chopped
• 1 cup grated cheese (I used vintage cheddar)
• 1 cup self-raising flour
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves
• salt and pepper
• 4 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup olive oil

Procedure:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Grease a 18cm x 28cm (base) slice pan.
2. Combine the carrot, zucchini, onion, ham, cheese, flour and parsley in a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper.

3. Stir in the milk, eggs and oil. Mix to combine.

4. Spread the mixture into the prepared pan.

5. Bake for 30-35 minutes until firm to touch. Set aside to cool.

6. Once the tray has cooled down, cut into slices. Serve either at room temperature or reheated in the microwave.

I got impatient and tried to slice these while they were still warm. DON'T DO THAT. It will be a mess. They set upon cooling and are then a cinch to cut. Other than that hiccup, the recipe is so easy to follow. All the hard work is in the chopping and grating and as I said, I had my food processor for that.

These slices are so yummy. I like them best warmed up with Greek yoghurt (or the labneh I made) and/or tomato sauce. If you want to amp up the health factor I suppose you can serve it with some greens but realistically, there are lots of veggies in there (albeit accompanied with cheese and ham).

I found these to be such an easy lunch option. I froze a few and they reheated without any issues. I would suggest that you can play around with the types of vegetables used too. Omit the ham if you're after something vegetarian.