As annoying as Instagram reels can be, it did lead me to a reel for this Scarpaccia recipe by Viviana Dal Pozzo . It looked all kinds of delicious and easy for someone who loves courgettes. I also liked that she used the water that drained from the courgettes to make the batter for the tart. Such a great “waste not want not” recipe. I immediately set about translating the recipe to make it since we had friends coming over for a casual dinner the next day. I am posting Viviana’s recipe below, translated from her website, as I did not follow the exact recipe and did not make notes of what I did. But it is a dish so worth sharing. If you are in the southern hemisphere, this is a great recipe for the bright summer days and if it is rather bleak outside, do save this for the days spring is in the air and the markets or veggie gardens start groaning with courgettes. When I made this Italian Courgette Tart, I had a lot more courgettes in weight, no courgette flowers, (I don’t think I have ever seen courgette flowers here in Abu Dhabi), neither did I have any polenta nor did I get as much liquid from salting the courgettes as she does in the reel. So I had to improvise. I added milk in stead of water and decided to use chickpea flour rather than cake flour to make it gluten-free for one of my guests. I was a bit nervous about those changes and decided to add a few eggs to make sure it will set, which I guess makes it more quiche than Scarpaccia. You will have to eye it as you do want enough liquid to cover the courgettes and this will depend on the size of the baking tray you use. Even with these changes it turned out delicious, so it is quite a forgiving recipe. Another tweak as I layered the courgettes in the tray, was to I add grated parmesan cheese. Feta would work great too and a mix of herbs such as mint, parsley and basil rather than the rosemary in the original recipe will make for a fresh, summery dish. Whether you use Viviana’s Scarpaccia recipe or use it as inspiration for a base recipe and then tweak it to make it your own this is definitely worth making. I hope you enjoy this recipe for Scarpaccia – Italian Courgette Tart. Enter your email address below to receive new recipes as they are published :
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Scarpaccia - Italian Courgette Tart
Ingredients
- 750 g courgettes
- 130 g flour
- 40 g fine polenta
- 10 courgette flowers optional
- 1 red onion
- extra virgin olive oil
- 1 heaped tsp salt
- freshly ground black pepper to taste
- fresh herbs to taste
Instructions
- Slice the courgettes into rounds with a thickness of about 2/3 mm
- Slice the onion into thin slices
- Wash the courgette flowers if used and cut them into thin strips
- Place the onion, sliced courgettes and courgette flowers in a bowl
- Season everything with salt and pepper
- Mix it well for 3 minutes
- Place a side plate with a weight on top of the courgettes and let it rest for at least 2 hours
- Retain 200 ml of water from the rest courgettes (you can always add some normal drinking water)
- Make a batter with the vegetable water, flour and polenta
- Mix the batter into the courgettes with a good drizzle of olive oil
- Pour everything onto a well-oiled non-stick baking tray
- Use baking paper to level it perfectly and add the fresh herbs
- Bake at 220 degrees C for approximately 30-35 minutes until golden brown and crispy
- Serve hot or cold
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