Courgette & Cheese Bread with Walnuts

This simple no knead bread requires no yeast and no proving! Instead you rub some butter into the dry ingredients, then layer in the rest of the ingredients. Once baked this zucchini bread has a scone like consistency.

I love courgettes and use them a lot in my cooking and I'm always looking for new ways to cook with them. I've made Carrot & Courgette Muffins before, but wanted to try a whole loaf.

This savoury courgette loaf makes a great snack, enjoy it as it is or spread a little butter on it. It also works as they perfect accompaniment to soups, salads or alongside a cheese and meat sharing platter.

Recipe ingredients

• Courgette (zucchini) - I used roughly 2 large courgettes in this recipe.
• Sea salt - I used sea salt to help remove some of the excess water from the courgettes.
• Flour - I used self raising flour in this recipe, rather than heavy bread flour which would also require the addition of yeast to.
• Raising agents - this bread contains a few heavy ingredients like courgette, cheese and walnut, so I used bicarbonate of soda and baking powder to help the loaf to rise.
• Seasoning - I seasoned the bread with sea salt and a little cayenne pepper.
• Butter - I used cold unsalted butter in this recipe. If using salted butter, cut back on the salt in the recipe.
• Eggs - I used 2 large free range eggs to help bind the ingredients into a dough.
• Milk - I added whole milk to help bind the dough together.
• Cheese - I used roughly grated gruyere cheese as gruyere has a really strong flavour which works well when added to the other ingredients.
• Nuts - I added chopped walnuts to the loaf for a little crunch and texture.
• Fresh herbs - I like to add some chopped fresh chives which add a mild onion flavour to the bread.

How to make Courgette & Cheese Bread

• Preheat the oven to 180C/160CFan/350F. Line a 1 lb loaf tin with baking parchment.
• Place the grated courgette into a sieve placed over a bowl. Sprinkle over 1 teaspoon of salt and toss through the courgette. Set aside for 15 minutes to allow the salt to draw the excess water out of the courgettes.
• Place the flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder, ½ teaspoon of sea salt and cayenne pepper into a large mixing bowl, stir to combine.
• Add the chilled butter and rub together gently through your fingers until the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs. Do not press the mixture together.

• Add the milk to the beaten eggs and stir to combine. Now add this mixture to the dry ingredients and stir to form a thick dough.

• Remove the grated courgettes from the sieve, onto a clean kitchen towel. Wrap up in the towel then squeeze firmly to remove any excess water. Place the dry courgette into the bowl with the dough and mix through.

• Now add the grated cheese, chopped walnuts and chopped chives to the bowl and stir through the dough.

• Place the dough into the line baking tin and gently push into the corners. Do not press down hard!
• Place the tin into the preheated oven and bake for 1 hour, or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the loaf comes out clean.
• Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool completely, then remove from the tin.
• To store the bread, wrap in kitchen foil and place in an airtight container on the counter top for 4-5 days.

Recipe variations

• Cheese - I've opted to use gruyere cheese as it has a great strong flavour. You could also use other hard cheese like comte or vintage cheddar.
• Nuts - I've added chopped walnuts for crunch and texture. You could swap walnuts for pecans, or leave them out altogether if you prefer.
• Spices - I season the bread with sea salt and a little cayenne pepper, but you could add other spices like a little smoked paprika which would work well with the other flavours.
• Fresh herbs - I add freshly chopped chives to add a little flavour of onion to the bread. You could use other fresh herbs like parsley, basil or thyme.

Serving suggestions

This easy zucchini loaf makes a great tasting snack, serve a slice as it is or spread with a little butter or cream cheese. I also like to serve a slice with homemade soup or salad. It also makes a great addition to a cheese and/or meat sharing platter.

Useful hints and tips

1. Salting courgettes: Do not skip the step where you salt the courgettes. Courgettes are full of water and salting them quickly removes a lot of the excess water which in turn stops the bread from becoming wet and soggy.
2. Raising agents: Adding heavier ingredients, like cheese and walnuts, will affect the overall rise of the bread and can make it dense. So I like to add some baking soda and baking powder to help the bread rise, resulting in a lighter bread.
3. Light touch: When rubbing the butter into the dry ingredients use a light touch so you get a loose breadcrumb like consistency.
4. Vegetarian: for a vegetarian loaf swap the gruyere cheese for a vegetarian alternative, a strong mature vegetarian cheddar would be a good alternative.
5. Nut free: if you have a nut allergy leave out the walnuts and the bread will still taste great.
6. Allergy advice: For comprehensive and detailed allergy advice go to Allergy UK.

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Additional recipe suggestions

If you like this recipe then try some of my other savoury bakes:

• Buttermilk Cheese Scones
• Carrot & Courgette Breakfast Muffins
• Twice Baked Cheese Souffles
• Comte Cheese & Wild Garlic Tart
• Salmon & Broccoli Quiche