Savory Summer Squash Quick Bread Recipe
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A quick bread is a great way to use up summer squash. This savory version combines oregano, feta, and lots of grated squash, for a tender, moist bread.
Special equipment: You will need a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan for this recipe. Loaf pans can be purchased at most cooking supply stores and at many large grocery stores.
Game plan: You can also use this recipe to bake savory muffins instead of bread. Just use a standard 12-well muffin pan. Coat the wells with olive oil and bake the muffins at 350°F until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Let the muffins cool for 5 minutes, then remove them from the pan and finish cooling on a wire rack.
This recipe was featured as part of our summer ingredients photo gallery.
- 1/4 cup olive oil, plus more for coating the pan
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup finely ground yellow cornmeal
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 1/4 teaspoons dried oregano
- 3/4 teaspoon fine salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 large eggs
- 3/4 cup buttermilk
- 2 cups grated summer squash, such as round zucchini, pattypan, or crookneck (from about 1 pound squash)
- 2/3 cup finely crumbled feta cheese (about 3 ounces)
- Heat the oven to 350°F and arrange a rack in the middle. Generously coat a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with olive oil; set aside.
- Place flour, cornmeal, baking powder, oregano, salt, baking soda, and pepper in a large bowl and whisk until combined.
- Place eggs, buttermilk, and 1/4 cup olive oil in a separate large bowl and whisk until smooth. Using a rubber spatula, fold in squash and feta until evenly combined. Pour squash mixture into flour mixture and stir until flour is just incorporated, being careful not to overmix (a few streaks of flour are OK).
- Scrape the batter into the prepared loaf pan, pushing it into the corners and smoothing the top. Bake until the bread is golden brown all over and a toothpick inserted into it comes out clean (test several spots, because you may hit a pocket of cheese), about 60 to 65 minutes. Place the pan on a wire rack to cool for 15 minutes, then turn the bread out onto the rack and cool for at least 15 minutes more before serving.
Thought I would share my experience making this bread, which I enjoyed (made it twice now, both times choosing to make muffins vs. a loaf) It's a long explanation that follows, but in short, I recommend leeching out moisture from the squash before adding it into the batter. Details below:
The first time I tried the recipe, I made it exactly according to the directions, except I had to substitute oil b/c I was apparently out of olive oil. Oops. I used grapeseed oil instead, which is flavorless, and the resulting muffin was a little bland. I blame myself for this, not the recipe! However, the texture of the muffin seemed somewhat undercooked near the center. I left it in the oven longer than described when it looked underdone, and used an instant read thermometer to check the temp until it reached 210 deg. F. before removing from the oven. I had read on the net that 210 was an optimal center temp for breads. (my mother tried this same recipe and had the same result...a bit soggy in the center). I figured the raw squash gave off too much moisture when baking, so I made adaptations the second time around, to great reviews. See below:
When making it the second time, I wanted to leech out moisture from the squash before baking. I shredded the squash with my food processor, and then tossed the 1 lb. of squash with 1 tsp. of table salt. I placed that in a colander set over a bowl for 10 minutes. I then took the squash, and bundled it up in a cheesecloth to squeeze out the juice (I did this in batches). I gathered the liquid to see how much rendered out, just for curiosity, and it was about 3/4 cup! I reserved some of that liquid in case the batter was too dry. Afraid the squash would now be too salty, I rinsed the squash in a bowl of water, and quickly re-squeezed it through the cheesecloth. what resulted was wonderful squash to mix into the batter (and it was actually now 8 oz, rather than the original pound now that it lost all the water.) I mixed together the squash and feta into the batter, and did end up adding back in about 2 ounces of the reserved salty squash liquid that I had drained, to make the batter a bit more moist.
The result was fantastic. The muffins rose significantly more (I assume since they weren't so moisture laden). They were extremely flavorful, and received many compliments at the dinner party to which I brought the muffins. One last note, the second time around, I had some fresh oregano from our garden, so I subbed that out for the dry, using 3x more fresh than what the recipe called for in dry (the standard fresh -> dry substitution ratio)
I hope my ridiculously overly complicated recap helps you make this yummy bread recipe. It really is a keeper
With my backyard squash plant giving so many new zucchinis, I decided to use this as the base of my first ever quickbread. I don't have a big sweet tooth, so I thought this was great.
Based on ingredients I had in house, I made a few substitutions. I used whole wheat pastry flour instead of AP flour (and subsequently used a full cup of buttermilk), and I used ricotta salata instead of feta since that's what I had.
As someone that makes a lot of yeasted breads, this was a first, and it was very cool, and very fast. I had this with a little goat cheese and tomoatoes, and I am looking forward to using a couple of slices as a base for some grilled cheese too. The one thing I wasn't sure about was that I had expected to be able to taste the zucchini more than I did.
I recommend trying this for sure, definitely unique and tasty.
ModernDayPlateSpinnr -
Since the bread has feta cheese in it, I would refrigerate it after it's completely cooled if you are not eating it right away.
Christine Gallary, CHOW Test Kitchen
Does this need to be refrigerated when done?