Wendy Hays

AH, THE poor maligned zucchini. Often considered the ultimate unglamorous vegetable and rarely seen on the menus of trendy restaurants, zucchini have so many good qualities it is a shame to overlook them.

In terms of ease of growing and productivity to space occupied, you really can’t go past having at least one zucchini plant in the backyard.

Zucchini are exceptionally versatile and with a water content of around 95% are very low in kilojoules.

They are high in vitamins, minerals and antioxidants which may protect the body from damage by free radicals thereby benefiting eye, skin and heart health.

However, at a time when they are coming into full production and increase from thumb size to torpedo size in a matter of a few days, it is often difficult to know what to do with them.

Zucchini can be grated, diced, chopped and frozen in small batches for use in cakes, muffins, slices, soups, casseroles and loaves throughout the year. If using in baking, drain the thawed zucchini in a colander before using.

If the zucchini is to be added to soups and casseroles, just add the whole lot and you will conserve many of the nutrients that are dissolved in the thawing liquid.

This month’s recipe for zucchini rolls is just one way to use surplus zucchini. An internet search will reveal many other creative and interesting ways to use this useful and nutritious vegetable.

Zucchini rolls Ingredients

1 medium carrot, peeled and grated

1 medium onion, peeled and chopped finely

1/2 red capsicum, finely chopped

1 medium zucchini, grated

250g canned creamed corn 3/4C seasoned stuffing mix or dry breadcrumbs with

1/2 tsp of dried mixed herbs 1 tsp curry powder (optional and to taste)

1/4 tsp minced chilli (optional) 1 small vegetable stock cube, crumbled

2 tbl fresh parsley, finely chopped

1 tbl soy sauce pepper to taste

4 sheets of puff pastry

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 tbl sesame seeds or poppy seeds

Method

1. Line two oven trays with baking paper.

2. Turn oven on to 200°C. 3 Combine all prepared vegetables, stuffing mix/ bread crumbs, stock power, pepper, minced chilli, curry powder, pepper, parsley, soy sauce and most of the egg in a large bowl. Mix well.

3. If you have one, spoon the filling into a large piping bag without a nozzle.

4. Cut each sheet of pastry in half.

5. Mound or pipe mixture evenly along the longest edge of each piece of pastry. Moisten the other long edge with a little of the leftover beaten egg.

6. Roll up pastry from the long side to enclose the filling.

7. Brush with reserved beaten egg, sprinkle with seeds and cut into desired lengths.

8. Place rolls on oven tray, seam side down. Rolls can be frozen at this stage.

9. Bake for about 30–45 minutes or until pastry is brown and puffed.

Serve with sweet chilli sauce or tomato relish.