Zucchini Slice
Australia's favourite lunchbox bake: grated zucchini, bacon and cheese folded into a simple egg batter and baked until golden.
Method
Preheat the oven to 180 °C (160 °C fan). Brush a 20×15 cm baking tin with a little of the oil and line it with baking paper, leaving some overhang so you can lift the slice out later.
Add in this stepVegetable oil 3 ml
ovenCoarsely grate the zucchini, skin and all, then squeeze it by the handful over the sink to remove some of the liquid. It doesn't need to be bone dry, just not dripping. Finely chop the onion, cut the bacon into 1 cm pieces and grate the cheese.
In a large bowl, whisk the eggs until the whites and yolks are fully combined. Sift in the flour and baking powder, add the salt and pepper, and whisk until smooth with no lumps.
Add in this stepEggs 3Plain flour 75 gBaking powder 1 tspSalt ½ tspBlack pepper to taste
Add the zucchini, onion, bacon, cheese and the rest of the oil, and stir with a spatula until everything is evenly coated. The batter should be thick and packed with vegetables.
Add in this stepZucchini (courgette) 220 gOnion 75 gBacon 80 gCheddar, grated 60 gVegetable oil 27 ml
Pour the mixture into the tin, level the top and bake on the middle rack of the oven for . It's ready when it has puffed up, the top is golden, the centre springs back when pressed and a skewer comes out clean. If the middle still wobbles, give it another 5 minutes.
ovenLet it cool in the tin for so it firms up, then lift it out by the paper and cut into squares. Serve warm with a salad, or cold in a lunchbox.
Cook's tip
Under-squeezed zucchini gives a soggy base. The bacon goes in raw, so keep the pieces no bigger than 1 cm to make sure they cook through. Keeps covered in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Cooking it at camp
Bake it at home, cool, cut into squares and pack in a sealed container in the cooler; it makes an easy first-day lunch. To warm it, put the squares in a lidded frying pan over low heat for 3 to 4 minutes per side.