Part of our regular dinner menu rotation, this dish is great to use up a decent amount of zucchinis and eggs. Also, it is very forgiving in terms of volumes of ingredients. The below volumes are approximate. Add/subtract what you like/don't like to suit yourself.
The original recipe comes from Pilsbury after it won a competition in 1980. Passed on from OG's grandmother to his cousin then to us, I've adapted it to suit the locally available ingredients and palettes.
Apologies, I haven't edited any of these photos. Straight from a phone camera to you! I'll try and update when I can.
Ingredients
1 onion, chopped
3 to 4 zucchini, thin-sliced (or however many you have to use)
250g mushrooms, sliced (or however many you want to have in it) (optional)
40g butter
1 Tblspn oil for frying
Herbs (dried or fresh)
- Parsley
- Basil
- Oregano
- Dill
5 to 6 eggs (beaten)
250g grated cheese (recommend using a mixture of mozzarella, cheddar and colby)
Enough puff pastry to line baking dish
Dijon mustard (~4 tablespoons)
2 to 3 tomatoes, sliced
salt and pepper to taste
½ teaspoon garlic powder or 1 clove freshly minced garlic (optional)
Method
1. In a large skillet, saute finely diced onions in butter and oil. Add sliced zucchini and herbs (and minced garlic or garlic powder). It is also a good opportunity to also add some turmeric powder (coz why not!). Saute to soften and set aside.
2. To the same pan, recoat with oil and butter and saute mushrooms until soft and set aside to cool. (Can put into the same vessel as the cooked zucchini.
3. In a large bowl, beat around 5 to 6 eggs, add some water to stretch it if needed. Add cooled zucchini/mushroom mixture.
4. Line pie or casserole with defrosted puff pastry. Lightly spread a layer of mustard on the pastry. Line base of pie with some grated cheese (either cheddar or mozzarella. Mozzarella was the original recipe but i use cheddar or colby).
5. Add remaining cheese to egg mixture and pour into pie dish. Top with more cheese (if you want). Add sliced tomatoes on top. This neat little trick stops the top from over browning or burning too much on top.
I added some goats cheese to half of this... not necessary though |
6. Place in preheated 180C oven til the egg is set and pastry is browned. At least 30 minutes depending on the size and shape of your dish. Remove from oven to cool slightly then serve.
Note: you can also use chopped spinach and/or silverbeet as additions or substitutes.