Zucchini Scarpaccia: Easy Vegan Italian Tart

Some slices of zucchini scarpaccia piled on a plate with the pan of scarpaccia in the foreground.

5 from 3 votes

Zucchini Scarpaccia: Easy Vegan Italian Tart

Make the most of summer zucchini with this Italian scarpaccia tart! Crispy outer edges and tender interiors make this delicious for a light lunch, snack or side dish.

Prep Time20

Cook Time40

Total Time1

Course: lunch, Snack

Cuisine: Italian

Diet: Vegan

Servings:

Calories: 214kcal

Author: Louise-Claire Cayzer

Equipment

1 mandolin or box grater
1 baking sheet ( roughly 27cm x 38cm /10.5"x 14")

Ingredients

1 kg zucchini you don't have to be too precise with the weight
150 g red onion 1 onion
125 g white flour or Chickpea Flour
50 g cornmeal or polenta- plus a little extra for sprinkling.
50 ml olive oil
2 tablespoon fresh rosemary
1 teaspoon flakey sea salt or to taste
50 ml water if needed

Metric - American

Instructions

Using a thin setting on a mandolin, or the slicer on the side of your box grater, finely slice the zucchini (you can use a knife but it takes ages) and the onion.
Sprinkle some flakey sea salt over the zucchini and onion, mix and put into a colander that is balanced over a large bowl. Put something heavy on top of the veggies (I use a plate and some food tins) and leave for an hour or two to extract as much liquid as possible. Squeeze more liquid out in a clean tea towel.
1 kg zucchini, 150 g red onion
Make sure to keep the liquid that is squeezed out!
Finely chop some rosemary and preheat the oven to 200℃/392℉
Now, use the zucchini liquid to make the batter by mixing in all the flour and the cornmeal /polenta.
125 g white flour, 50 g cornmeal
Add a little extra water as needed to make a looseish simple batter.
50 ml water
Miz the zucchini and onion, plus half the rosemary in with the polenta & flour batter.
2 tbsp fresh rosemary
Sprinkle some polenta over a non-stick baking sheet and brush olive oil all over it. (This prevents it from catching, plus makes a crunchy coating on the bottom.
50 ml olive oil
Spread the zucchini and batter mixture over the sheet. Press down hard with a spatula or put a sheet of parchement paper over the top and press down on that.
The scarpaccia should be even and quite thin- no more than 1cm thick, plus you want good contact with the batter and zucchini slices.
Brush with more olive oil, and sprinkle over the rest of the rosemary and some flakey sea salt.
50 ml olive oil, 1 tsp flakey sea salt
Bake in the oven for 35-45 minutes or until crispy on the top and edges.
You can cook for longer if you want the scarpaccia to be extra crispy!
Leave to cool completely to help it firm up , then cut into squares in the tin, carefully lift out and eat!
*TIP: It can be a little tricky to remove in one piece from the pan, use a spatula to slide underneath the scarpaccia once it is fully cool to lift it out.

Video

Notes

SUBSTITUTION IDEAS:

Gluten-Free - use chickpea flour in place of the regular white flour to make a simple batter for a gluten-free scarpaccia.
Other Fresh Herbs - use fresh basil, oregano or parsley as well as or instead of the rosemary.
Zucchini Flowers - if you're lucky enough to have fresh zucchini flowers, half them lengthwise and dip in the batter. Press into the top of the scarpaccia for a super pretty effect.
Vegan Parmesan Cheese- Traditional scarpaccia sometimes adds parmesan cheese, add a sprinkle of nutritional yeast or some vegan parmesan to the batter.
Other veggies- very finely slice potatoes, a red bell pepper or carrots for yummy mixed vegetable scarpaccia.
A little spicy- add some red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper to the batter.
Garlicky- choose to add some finely sliced fresh garlic, or sprinkle a generous dash of garlic powder over.

Nutrition