Everywhere you look at in my house at the moment there are courgettes of different shapes and sizes. In the sinks, the fridge and on the worktops. It’s a lovely problem to have and I’m intending to conquer it by including courgette in every meal and snack for the next few weeks. I might just let the kids off having it grated into their breakfast cereals if I’m feeling generous 🙂
So I’m starting a series of courgette recipes in Plot to Plate, beginning with this delicious cornbread which we’ve been enjoying for years and moving on to other ideas including some yummy courgette Earl Grey tea bread which I’ve been experimenting with this week.
This beauty has been split between the cornbread and the teabread
And this monster is lurking in the utility room sink…
Ingredients:
1 onion
1 red pepper
2 medium courgettes (I used 2/3 of this big one)
1 egg
4 tbsp olive oil
1 chilli (vary heat levels of the chilli to taste)
2 small sweetcorn cobs with kernels removed or 1 cup frozen sweetcorn
125ml crème fraiche
125g polenta
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp baking powder
250g grated cheddar cheese
1/2 tsp paprika
Cooking the vegetables – the courgette, onion and chilli in the cornbread were all from the garden or allotment
Method:
Chop the onion and red pepper and grate the courgette. Add to a frying pan with 2 tbsp of olive oil and cook until soft. Cool in a bowl.
Ready to be baked – I didn’t put the chilli in the bread because the kids don’t like it spicy, so I sprinkled it on top of one half and put paprika on the other half to show which was which
Beat the egg with remaining olive oil and add chopped chilli and cooled veg. Stir in the rest of the ingredients (except the paprika and 50g of grated cheese). Pour into a 21 cm diameter shallow cake tin and sprinkle the cheese and paprika over the top.
Cooked and ready for action
Bake at 180ºc for 40 mins. I usually serve warm with salad, vegetables or soup.
Courgette and chilli cornbread with olive and beetroot from the allotment – nourishing and tasty
Is there a reason why you are using frozen sweetcorn? I’ve just harvested the last of mine and wondering if I can use that instead – loving the idea though!
Two sweetcorn cobs would work even better, but I’ve not had much luck growing it in the garden – never managed a ripe corn! I might try it in the allotment next year though – I have fabulous childhood memories of picnics in Canada where we ate freshly picked corn – so different from cobs from the shops. Thanks for the suggestion – I’ll put it as an alternative in the recipe 🙂