Dazz Switalla Flavour Secrets No.1 The Strand Chef www.no1thestrand.co.nz

The garden is pumping this time of year and the courgettes are taking over as usual, with bright yellow flowers appearing on a daily basis. These flowers make a great burst of colour simply shredded last minute into a salad. They can also be steamed whole with a rice or other savoury filling. In the past, I have filled the flowers with a ricotta, lemon and herb mixture and deep-fried them in tempura batter.

The abundance of zucchini produced from one plant in your garden means ample supply – why I planted three I will never know.

Besides stir fries and slicing into ribbons for salads, there are other options to use the humble courgette. For this week we will use them in a slice.

Throughout the years I have given people this slice without telling them what it contained – not one person guessed. So it's one way to disguise this vegetable that children would not usually eat.

The origins of this chocolate flavoured slice come from an old New York Times natural foods cookbook: an absolute treasury of old school baking. Although it appears to be healthy, it's actually not going to help that New Year diet, with its high sugar content. But what the heck, it's holiday time and there are heaps of courgettes to use up.

CHOCOLATE ZUCCHINNI SLICE BASE

Ingredients

125 grams firm butter

½ cup brown sugar

1 small or ½ egg beaten

220 grams flour

TOPPING

5 eggs beaten

3 cups brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Pinch of salt

3tablespoons flour

100 grams flaked almonds

2 ½ cups coconut strands

1 cup of dark chocolate chips

3 cups grated zucchini

Method

Make the base by mixing flour and sugar in a food processor. Add butter a little at a time. Add enough beaten egg to form a mass then press to 2-3mm depth – straight into a suitable large oven proof tray lined with greaseproof paper.

Bake at 180c for 5-7 minutes until just firm enough to take the moisture of the topping.

For the topping, whisk together eggs, sugar and vanilla essence and stir in coconut, flaked almonds, salt, flour and dark chocolate chips.

Lastly, add in grated zucchini and fold into mixture, pour onto the base and return to oven for 45-50 minutes, bake until set.

Note the top may swell up during cooking, so after resting place greaseproof paper on top and another tray. Chill well before cutting.