Courgette Potato Cheddar Bread Food

COURGETTE & CHEDDAR SODA BREAD

Steps:

• Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6 and dust a baking sheet with a little flour. Place a box grater on top of a clean tea towel and coarsely grate the courgettes. Lift the corners of the tea towel and, holding it over the sink, twist to compact the courgettes and squeeze out as much liquid as you can.
• Put the flour, oats, bicarb and 1 tsp fine salt in a large bowl. Add most of the cheddar (save a little for the top), the thyme and the courgette. Mix the buttermilk and honey, then pour into the flour mixture. Stir with a wooden spoon until the dough starts to clump together, then tip onto a work surface and knead briefly to bring all the loose bits together - try not to overwork the dough or the bread will be heavy.
• Shape into a round loaf and place on the baking sheet. Brush with egg and sprinkle with the remaining cheese. Use a sharp knife to score a deep cross on top of the loaf, then bake for 40 mins until deep golden brown. Best served warm, but leftovers will keep for 1-2 days.

COURGETTE, POTATO & CHEDDAR SOUP

Steps:

• Put the potatoes in a large pan with just enough water to cover them and crumble in the stock cubes. Bring to the boil, then cover and cook for 5 mins. Add the courgettes, put the lid back on and cook for 5 mins more. Throw in the spring onions, cover and cook for a final 5 mins.
• Take off the heat, then stir in the cheese and season with the nutmeg, salt and pepper. Whizz to a thick soup, adding more hot water until you get the consistency you like. Serve scattered with extra grated cheddar, spring onions and nutmeg or pepper. Or cool and freeze in freezer bags or containers with good lids for up to 3 months.

COURGETTE, POTATO & CHEDDAR BREAD

Steps:

• Boil the potatoes in salted water until just tender, drain and allow to cool a little. Put the flour and yeast into a large bowl. When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, coarsely grate half straight into the mix, tossing occasionally to coat in the flour. This will stop the potatoes sticking in clumps.
• Grate in half the courgette, add half of the cheese and strip in half of the thyme leaves. Add 1 tbsp olive oil mixed with 175-200ml hand-warm water. Bring the dough together and knead for a couple of mins. Put into a lightly oiled bowl, cover and leave to rise in a warm place until doubled in size.
• Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Grease a 20cm x 30cm tin. Push the bread dough into the tin firmly, pushing out air. Finely slice the remaining potatoes and courgette. Scatter over the top along with the remaining thyme and poke in roughly with your fingers so the slices stick out a little. Cover with oiled cling film and leave to rise again for about 45 mins. Drizzle with the rest of the olive oil, scatter with the remaining cheese, then cook for 50 mins-1 hr, until well risen and golden. Leave to cool, then serve, cut into squares.

COURGETTE & CHEDDAR CORNBREAD

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Butter a 900g loaf tin and line with a wide strip of baking parchment. Mix the flour, polenta and baking powder in a bowl with 1 tsp of salt.
• Whisk the eggs, milk and melted butter in a jug. Pour into the dry ingredients and mix together. Stir in the cheese and courgettes. It will be quite runny at this stage but don't worry, as the polenta gradually swells and soaks up the liquid in the oven.
• Pour into the prepared loaf tin and bake for 15 mins, then turn the oven down to 200C/180C fan/gas 6 and cook for another 25-30 mins or until a skewer inserted in the middle of the loaf comes out clean (you can cover the top loosely with foil if starts to get dark too quickly).
• Leave to cool completely in the tin, then turn out and slice.