So, here we go, straight into the recipe:
- Tromboncino or zucchini, cheese, eggs, onion of some kind, something tart, something salty, something aromatic, little bit of flour, salt and pepper.
- Mix together, top with grated cheese, bake.
- Serve hot or cold, with a salad or in a lunchbox, a single serve size or a baking tray full for a dozen serves.
In a bit more detail? Ok, but really, there’s not much more to it.
Tromboncinos, or zucchini, grated, lots of. This one had about 3 cups full. It only makes a little dent in the mountain of tromboncinos hogging the fridge, but every little bit helps. If you use zucchini, best to put the grated zucch in a colander and press down with a potato masher or similar to drain a bit of the juice off. Or, just add some extra flour in the later step where we add flour. Tromboncino are drier and denser, which is part of why I prefer them (the other part being that they are so easy to grow – no powdery mildew, no real pests, hugely prolific and long lived.). I digress.
Eggs. I used six in this, but three of them were bantam eggs so more like four large eggs worth. Less eggs and you need more of the sticky ingredients like cheese and flour.
Cheese. I used two-thirds of a cup of cottage cheese, a tiny bit of left-over feta, and about a third of a cup of grated parmesan in the mix, and about half a cup of grated tasty cheese on top. You could vary the cheeses anyway you like, and you could get away with a whole lot less. I like cheese.
Some kind of onion. I used one large spring onion (with its seed pod – spring onion seeds are wonderful in baking – one of the perks of growing your own). Leek, chives, garlic chives, red onion – anything from that family would work. Not too much of it. Chopped fine.
Something tart. I used about half a cup of semi-sun-dried cherry tomatoes, but anything with a bit of acidity will work. You could double down on the something salty (below) and use pickled vegetables, or go for a tart spice like sumac or a tart green like sorrel. Fresh tomatoes might make the mix too wet – I’d use them as slices on top if that’s all you have.
Something salty. I used a handful of black olives chopped roughly, but capers, nasturtium pod capers, anchovies, pickled vegetables, or any kind of cured meat would work. Or skip that bit and just add a bit more salt at the end.
Something aromatic. You could leave this out too if you like. It does take a little bit of flavour imagining to get it right, but if you can do that, it does make the dish more interesting. I used a good tablespoon of finely chopped lemon thyme, and one of mild yellow chili. I thought about ordinary thyme, lemon basil, sweet basil, tarragon, chervil, shiso. Not coriander or dill or fennel or rosemary or sage or any of the curry spices (except maybe some milder variety of chilli if you like spicy). But you do you.
Little bit of flour. Mix it all together well, then add just enough flour to make it a bit sticky. Not too much – I used a heaped tablespoon in this mix. Any kind of flour.
Salt and pepper. You’ve already added salt in the “something salty”. And cheese is salty, especially feta, so if you’ve gone easy on them, add a bit more salt, and if you’ve been more heavy handed add less (or none) (I did none). And a grinding of black pepper always helps.
Lightly oil a baking dish, spoon the mix in, sprinkle grated cheese on top, and bake for around half an hour in a moderate oven (180°C) until the top is golden and it’s set in the middle.
