From Savoury Slice to Savoury Muffins

I’ve been making Zucchini Slice on and off for many years.  When Dean and I were travelling around Australia, it became one of our favourite meals.  I think it’s a cooks delight.  It’s quick and easy to prepare and, when cooked in our Weber Baby Q, it tasted amazing.  And the best part, one batch was sufficient for several meals.

Along the way, I added a few tweaks, included a bit of punch, and experimented with cooking the recipe in muffin tins instead of the usual slice tray.  The results are little parcels of zingy goodness that I’ve now served with a few varying accompaniments for either breakfast, brunch or lunch, and on a few occasions, Dean and I have even enjoyed them for our evening meal.  (Dean loves them.)  They’d even be perfect to take on a picnic.

Recently I had my dear friend Yvette over for lunch, and you guessed it, we had savoury muffins with a little side salad.  Yvette loved them so much she asked me for the recipe.  (Que the big head.)

At the time I simply told her it was my Zucchini Slice recipe cooked in muffin tins, however, when I went back and looked at that recipe, I realised that that was not the case.  There was no mention of chilli and garlic or parmesan cheese, or that I now use both zucchini and carrots.

I needed to do a rewrite, and here it is.

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Clare’s Savoury Muffins

ingredients:
2 medium zucchini – grated
2 medium carrots – grated
1 large onion finely chopped
4 rashers bacon chopped
1 cup grated cheese
1 cup self-raising flour
½ cup vegetable oil
4 extra large eggs
1 heaped tsp fresh minced chilli
1 heaped tsp fresh minced garlic
salt and pepper to taste

extra ingredients
1 cup (or so) grated cheese
finely grated parmesan cheese to taste
paprika to taste

makes 18 muffins – can be halved or doubled

step one:  Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and spray muffins tins with oil.  This recipe makes 18, so I use one 12-muffin tin and one 6-muffin tin.

step two:  Place the following ingredients into a large bowl in this order – zucchini, carrot, onion, and bacon.  Make a well in the middle and add the flour and oil.

step three:  In a separate bowl, place the eggs, salt and pepper, chilli, and garlic and beat.  Add this egg mixture to the other bowl and using a wooden spoon, mix all the ingredients together thoroughly.

step four:  Add the cup of grated cheese and continue mixing until all ingredients are combined well.

step five:  Divide the mixture between the 18 muffin tins and sprinkle the top of each with the extra cheese and a little parmesan cheese.  Add as much or as little paprika as desired.  If you don’t like paprika, omit it.

step six: Bake for approx. 12 – 15 minutes or until golden brown on top and allow to cool in the muffin tray before removing.

helpful hints:

• I grate the zucchini and carrot into the large bowl and work from there.
• You can substitute zucchini and carrot with any other vegetable.  I have successfully used white potato, sweet potato and pumpkin – if you can grate it, you can use it.  The grated vegetables should equal approx. 4 – 5 cups.
• Don’t be tempted to use electric beaters.  A wooden spoon is all that’s needed.
• These are great by themselves or enjoyed with a fresh green salad.
• The eggs I use have an average weight of 59 grams (2.08 oz)

You can download a printable version here or by visiting my Recipes page where you will find all sorts of recipes, including one for the original Zucchini Slice.