Moist, dense and extremely flavorful bread. Fantastic when toasted and perfect for breakfast or at any time of the day for that matter! Full of yummy zucchini and whole wheat flour.
My Dad is one of 8 kids (yes 8, god bless my grandparents) and during the holidays my family takes turns hosting at their houses. Every house seemed to have a specialty that they always served. One of my aunts always made this moist, extremely savory zucchini quiche that I just adored. So much so that she would always save me some to bring home and I would have it for breakfast for a few days after.
I often crave that quiche and it wasn't terribly unhealthy but it would definitely be hard to put into a meal plan. This summer I set out to take that quiche and make it into a bread that would work with our healthy lifestyle. I think the final product is a combination of at least 10 different recipes, and it took at least 3-4 tries to get it right. The difficult thing about zucchini is, it has a lot of water and the bread would come out extremely dense and feel raw even when it was cooked through.
I combatted this by straining out the zucchini and reducing other liquids within the recipe. A good trick for straining your zucchini is to season it with salt and let it sit in a strainer over a bowl while you get your other ingredients together. When it is time to add in your zucchini give it a good squeeze either in your hands or by pushing against the strainer with a spatula. A little liquid is absolutely fine, because this bread is modeled after a quiche it is still dense and moist. If you are looking for an airy, fluffy sandwich bread this is not the recipe for you. This is a heavier set bread that has a substantial feeling to it and will keep you going for a while if you have it for breakfast!
I so hope you enjoy this bread, it tastes wonderful toasted with a runny yolk egg, some ham &cheese or simply some salted butter. Mmmm! longer to cook than the outside and so it can produce a very dark exterior. To fix this we cook it low and slow, let the inside cook and the outside get color nicely and slowly. It is done when the internal temperature reads 200 degrees Fahrenheit, and I have found this to be an absolute foolproof way of checking its doneness. If your bread is getting too dark too fast despite the low oven temperature feel free to cover it with foil to keep it from burning!
I so hope you enjoy this bread, it tastes wonderful toasted with a runny yolk egg, some ham & cheese, or simply some salted butter. Mmmm!