Thursday, July 10, 2008

Zucchini, Pumpkin and Feta Cakes Recipe



These small veggie cakes are loosely based on our zucchini slice and have a similar moist, soft texture. The grated zucchini and egg base contains chunks of pumpkin and feta cheese and tasty pieces of sundried tomato. The cakes are great for lunchboxes and reheat well. We serve them cold, warm or hot—on their own, or with a relish.

You will need about 200g pumpkin to yield the 160g of peeled, deseeded pumpkin used in this recipe. If you have leftover cooked pumpkin, potato or sweet potato any of these could be used in place of the raw pumpkin. Roasted vegetables could be added to the mixture without any pan-frying; boiled or steamed vegetables could be briefly pan-fried to boost their flavour.

Makes 7 individual-serve cakes.

We use a 20ml tablespoon and 250ml measuring cup for all of our recipes.

1 teaspoon (5ml) oil
160g peeled, deseeded pumpkin cut into small dice (about 1 1/4 cm cubes)
1/2 medium onion, peeled and finely diced
275g (about 1 medium-large) zucchini
30g (about 4-5 pieces) sundried tomatoes in oil
65g (1/2 cup) cooked rice
40g (1/3 cup, lightly packed) grated tasty cheddar cheese
Salt and pepper
75g (1/2 cup) self-raising flour
2 large eggs (we use eggs with a minimum weight of 59g)
30ml (1 1/2 tablespoons) oil
80g feta cheese, crumbled (equivalent to a piece of feta about 4cm by 2cm by 2cm)

Preheat oven to 190 degrees Celsius (170 degrees Celsius fan-forced).

Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a heavy-based, non-stick frying pan over high heat. When the oil is hot, add the pumpkin and reduce heat to medium. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the pumpkin has lightly browned (about 10 minutes).

Add the onion to the pan and increase heat to medium-high.

Cook, stirring, until the onion has softened and lightly browned (about 3 minutes). Remove pan from the heat and transfer mixture to a large bowl. Set aside to cool for about 15-20 minutes.

Cut seven pieces of baking paper about 13cm square. Grease seven holes of a muffin pan (1/3 cup capacity holes). Line the muffin holes with the baking paper squares. © exclusivelyfood.com.au

Wash zucchini, discard ends, and grate. Squeeze handfuls of grated zucchini over sink to remove excess liquid (this prevents the cakes from being too wet).

Drain sundried tomatoes and finely chop.

Add zucchini, tomato, rice, cheddar cheese, salt and pepper to the cooled pumpkin mixture.

Stir until ingredients are just combined. Add flour and stir until just combined.

Use a fork to beat eggs and 30ml (1 1/2 tablespoons) oil together in a small bowl. Add egg mixture to zucchini mixture and stir until just combined. Gently fold in feta cheese.

Spoon mixture evenly among prepared muffin holes.

Bake for about 30 to 35 minutes, until the cakes are golden brown and firm to the touch (if your oven is not fan-forced, bake the cakes on the centre shelf of the oven so they cook evenly).

Serve straight from the oven or store in a covered container in the refrigerator until required. Suitable to reheat.
© www.exclusivelyfood.com.au


29 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

It looks yummy! Unfortunately, I can't find zucchini & feta cheese at where I live.

11/7/08 12:13 am  
Blogger Poornima said...

Just saw your recipe,raided my fridge and YES have all the stuff.Will be making it this weekend.Thank you.

11/7/08 9:44 am  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi there,
these look delicious, I want to make them but don't have a muffin tray to bake them in....would arranging the mixture into bite size portions on a flat tray (like biscuits) or pouring all the mixture into a shallow dish (to become like a slice) be ok do you think? Thanks! Marie :-)

24/7/08 5:15 pm  
Blogger Amanda and Debbie said...

Hi Marie

We recommend baking the mixture in a shallow dish. If you decide to try it, please let us know how it turns out.

29/7/08 8:37 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi there! Really keen on trying this recipe but can't have cheese - is there a substitute/replacement I should use, and/or is the recipe ok to use without cheese/feta cheese? Would love your thoughts. Many thanks :)

20/8/08 3:16 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Just made these delicious and very tasty cakes. I used a mini muffin tray because I wanted to use them as a finger food.
Another great recipe from Amanda and Debbie, thanks girls

23/8/08 3:25 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

It tasted very nice. I was lazy and used patty papers and unfortunately the bottoms of this yummy cake were stuck!

25/8/08 1:48 pm  
Blogger Amanda and Debbie said...

To the person who asked about making these cakes cheese free: We think you could probably just omit the cheese from the recipe. You could try adding some chopped cooked chicken or bacon, or additional vegetables (such as corn or mushroom) for extra flavour.

26/8/08 5:32 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi, just wondering if you think these would be nice as a starter served with a side salad? What kind of relish/sauce would you suggest serving? I've just stumbled over your recipes, they all look great, thank you!

25/11/08 8:20 am  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi there,

I made this recipe and they are delicous. I made some in a regular muffin tin and also made some in mini-muffin tins. The kids loved them and took them to school in their lunchboxes.

My husband is gluten intollerant so I substitued normal flour for White Wings gluten free flour. I also added bacon and corn instead of the feta. He loved them too.

Many thanks for all your great recipes. We are making the White Chocolate Mud cupcakes this weekend as well as these savoury cakes for my mum's surprise 60th birthday afternoon tea.

Best wishes to you.

2/12/08 1:44 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I made these to take to a lunch today and they were a great hit ... there were none left over! Thanks so much for a yummy recipe that will become a family favourite in this household.

2/12/08 4:04 pm  
Blogger Amanda and Debbie said...

Hi Anonymous

Yes, we think these zucchini cakes would be nice served as a starter with relish and a side salad. You could use our tomato relish.

4/12/08 9:12 am  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I would love to attempt this, however hubby cannot eat eggs! Is there another binder I could choose?....would cheese work? thanx

24/12/08 12:12 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I love your website! Have made a couple of desserts and savoury dishes and everything has come out of the oven perfectly!

Thanks for making cooking so easy. Everything I've made (including these zucchini, pumpkin and fetta cakes have been finished immediately with no leftovers for lunch the next day. I'm going to be making double quantities and hiding some of it for the day after!

26/12/08 5:14 pm  
Blogger Amanda and Debbie said...

Hi Amelia

Unfortunately, we aren't aware of an egg substitute that would give a result similar to that obtained when eggs are used. If you try making the zucchini cakes without eggs, please let us know how they turn out.

2/2/09 4:30 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi there, these look great! Can you make them without the rice?

2/3/09 2:03 pm  
Blogger Amanda and Debbie said...

We haven't tried making these zucchini cakes without the rice, but it should be fine to do so. The rice-free recipe will probably yield five or six cakes.

9/3/09 10:34 pm  
Anonymous Margie said...

I made them without rice, and added some corn and mushrooms. I also did one batch as recommended in the muffin pans, and the second batch in a 24cm pie dish. It turned out just as well without needing extra baking time. They were absolutely delish! Your recipes are always super easy to follow, and the outcome is always a crowd pleaser:) Thank you so much and keep the recipes comin!

29/3/09 10:45 pm  
Blogger Unknown said...

Hi I was just wondering if these could be frozen? If so, would you reheat in the oven or microwave? Thanks a lot, Madelin

11/7/09 7:17 pm  
Blogger Amanda and Debbie said...

Hi Madelin

Zucchini cakes that have been frozen and reheated have a slightly different texture, but they still taste fine. They can be reheated in an oven or microwave.

17/7/09 1:19 pm  
Anonymous summer days said...

I'm a bit disappointed with how these turned out considering the length of time needed for preparation. I followed the recipe exactly but they were a bit too moist and did not look as lovely in the picture. I won't be making these again.

7/10/09 4:26 pm  
Blogger A Girl Lost in Translation said...

I just made this recipe tonight. I am gluten intolerant, so just subsisted the wheat flour for White Wings GF Self Raising flour plus a pinch of xanthan gum and it worked out very well. Didn't have cooked rice, but added 3 rashers of chopped bacon instead. Made 8 muffins. Served with a simple green salad and the family loved it (and better still, couldn't tell that it was GF!)

14/1/10 10:40 pm  
Blogger Tania said...

My hubby loved your Zucchini, Pumpkin and Feta Cakes. For a man who does not like feta and zucchini he loves it. He is so looking forward to me making it again, I think so he can just take it to work to show it of. Again thank you for another fabulous recipe.

12/4/10 9:42 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Do you think danish feta would work in this recipe?

9/11/10 8:40 am  
Anonymous planetaryberry said...

Made these tonight & they are delicious! I didn't have a muffin tray so I made them into cookie-shaped blobs on a foil-lined baking tray. Had to cook them for a bit longer, but they came out perfectly! Thanks so much for all your great recipes!

25/6/12 9:09 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I made these today for my lunches during the week, first time making them, and I am so happy! They were fairly easy to prepare, and turned out really yummy! I followed the recipe exactly, but I think my garlic cloves were smaller than normal, so may add an extra one next time. They look just like the picture! I also made your tomato relish recipe to go with these!

12/8/12 2:19 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Zucchini is known as courgette in the UK - thought that might be a little helpful for others to know. :)

22/9/12 3:12 am  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I just made these for pre-dinner Christmas nibbles. The mixture made 24 using mini-muffin tins. I used sweet potato in place of the pumpkin and they disappeared in a flash. Thank you for your great recipes.

25/12/12 8:00 pm  
Anonymous Emma said...

I've made these cakes 10+ times and every time they've turned out really well. I usually replace the rice with cooked mushrooms (which I cook by adding them to the pumpkin & onion while they cook). I omit the sundried tomato as I don't like it much and sometimes I use more pumpkin/zucchini than the recipe calls for. I've also found they freeze really well, by wrapping each cake individually in glad wrap and freezing. I just microwave to warm them up. Thanks Amanda & Debbie

17/6/13 5:03 pm  

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