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.
Servings: 6
Calories: 214kcal
Equipment
- 1 mandolin or box grater
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
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 tablespoon 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, 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 teaspoon 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.
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
Calories: 214kcal | Carbohydrates: 30g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Sodium: 403mg | Potassium: 525mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 353IU | Vitamin C: 32mg | Calcium: 39mg | Iron: 2mg