Baked Bacon & Zucchini Slice (Hidden Veggies Yay!)

Zucchini slice is such a simple and delicious recipe to make and is a staple in my house, everyone eats it, even my little cousins who hate vegetables (because they are secretly hidden so they have no idea MUHUHAHAHAHAHAH!). It is also a great recipe for any other leftover vegetables you need to get rid of too!

You can have this for breakfast, a snack, lunch or dinner it is such a great and versatile food!

It has a beautiful savoury flavour and I usually make a double batch so that I can freeze them for breakfasts when we are rushed for time. They are just so good and I hope you give them a go. And you can easily make these vegetarian by removing the bacon.

Step 1: Ingredients & Equipment

Ingredients

- 1 large Zucchini or 2 medium/small, washed and grated with the water pressed out of it (shown in the next step)

- 1 large carrot or 2 small/medium, washed and grated

- 1 large Brown onion, roughly chopped

- 6 Extra large eggs, at room temperature

- 200g short cut bacon, diced

- Minimum 1 cup Self Raising flour (you may need to add more depending on how watery your zucchini slice is, this will be explained later)

- 1 Cup Grated cheddar cheese (or your favourite kind of cheese) of course you can add more cheese if you love cheese (I always add more XD)

- 3 Tbsp olive oil

- 1 tsp garlic powder

- 1/4-1/2 tsp salt or more to taste (this depends on how salty your bacon and cheese is)

- 1/2 tsp pepper or more to taste

Equipment

- Knife

- Chopping board

- Grater

- Large mixing bowl

- Rectangular baking dish (for a thinner slice I use about 30cm x 15-20cm or for a thicker chunkier slice use a smaller dimension dish do it is deeper (this will increase cooking time though)).

- baking paper

- butter knife (to help get the slice out of the pan)

- mixing spoon

Step 2: Wring Out the Zucchini

Zucchini is a watery vegetable and for our slice, if you do not remove the excess water it can make the slice soggy and may not bake properly in the oven.

To wring out the zucchini you can either squeeze it in a cheesecloth to remove the water or as I do, take handfuls of it and squeeze them in between my hands until the water runs out.

Step 3: Brown the Onions and Bacon

First, take 1 Tbsp of the olive oil and place it into a large frying pan and on medium-high heat cook your onions for about 3-5 minutes until they have browned. **

Once the onions are brown add the bacon and cook for a few minutes until it browns slightly. Then take off the heat and allow it to cool while you start making the egg mixture.

** If you want this to happen quicker add a few shakes of salt to help draw water out of the onions, browning them quicker.

Step 4: Make the Egg Mixture

In a large mixing bowl whisk together your eggs for about 2 minutes until they are fully combined and uniform colour and consistency. Then add your zucchini, carrot, cheese, bacon and onion mixture, garlic, salt and pepper and mix together. Then add the rest of the oil (optional**) and flour and mix together.

You are looking for a thin paste-like consistency (**Best shown on the video) if your mixture is quite watery add another 1/4-1/2 cup of flour.

**If you feel your mixture is very wet due to not ringing out your zucchini properly add only 1 Tbsp of the oil)

Step 5: Bake the Slice

To bake the slice, line a baking dish (for a flatter slice use about 30cm x 20cm rectangular dish, for a thicker slice use a smaller dish) a smaller/deeper baking dish might require longer baking time.

Then in a preheated oven, 180 degrees Celcius or 355 degrees Fahrenheit bake for about 40-45 minutes (for a bigger/ wider dish (less deep) this may need less time, or if you have a smaller/deeper dish you may need more time.

To test if the slice is cooked through feel the top of it. If it is springy kind of like a cake it is finished. you can also insert a knife and see if it comes out clean or has liquid mixture still on it. Again this will also depend on how watery your mixture was to start with.

You can also take it out, cut it in half and see if it is cooked through. if it is still undercooked in the middle place it back in the dish and cook at 5-10 minute intervals until it is cooked to your likeing.

Step 6: Serve!

I hope you give this recipe a go it is so delicious and a great way to sneak vegetables into your diet XD. It is great on its own or goes really well with salad or steamed veggies. its also terrific to freeze and easy to rehe