Here is a recipe for Zucchini Pudding that is very easy and is lovely and light for a warm evening.
You will need 2 hours for the zucchini pudding to chill after it has cooked but even eaten slighly tepid, it truly is worthwhile trying. The gentle flavour of the zucchini definitely comes through and leaves a lovely aftertaste.
- 1 cup water
- 3 medium zucchinis, peeled and cubed
- 2 cups milk, half or full fat
- ½ cup sugar
- 2.5 Tbsp cornflour
- Place the cubes of zucchini in a small pot with the cup of water.
- Bring to boil, then simmer till the zucchini are soft.
- Drain zucchini and reserve some of the liquid.
- Put the zucchini in a pan and blend using a hand blender
- Add the milk and sugar and blend again so that it is very smooth.
- Put the pan on a medium heat and stir, on and off. for 5 minutes
- At this point, take a small taste test and adjust if more sugar is needed
- Mix the cornflour with ¼ cup of the reserved cool zucchini liquid
- Stir into the simmering pot
- Keep stirring for 4 minutes until it has thickened and has cooked.
- If necessary, use the blender to make sure it is really smooth
- Spoon out the Zucchini Pudding into 4 or 5 small bowls
- Chill in the fridge for min 2 hours
- Dress with walnuts or other nuts if desired
ZUCCHINI PUDDING ALSO KNOWN AS SÜTLIKA
This is a completely new idea for me that my neighbour taught me a few weeks before I left for Australia. I had never seen or heard of it before and chatting to other Turkish people, it is not too well known.
When my neighbour invited me over for Sütlika I had no idea that in fact it was Zucchini Pudding.
I was expecting something with virtually no taste and a rubbery texture, somewhat like many of the ready made pudding packs you buy in the supermarket. I was taken by surprise and delighted by the flavour and texture of this super simple pudding and recommend it to anyone wanting to whip up a quick and easy, light dessert.
I have always loved zucchini (known as kabak in Turkish). It was also a favourite of my childrens’ from when they were babies right through all their tricky picky-eating years. I wished I had known about this zucchini pudding recipe when my girls were young.
It pleased me immensely that they would actually ask me to buy them when we walked past them at the markets and looked so excited when they knew I would be serving them.
An old Italian boyfriend once taught me this very simple zucchini side which is just too simple to for words.
For 4 people I would use 3 medium sized zucchini. I would choose the crispest ones I could find, as dark as possible and preferably unblemished. Simply slice them paper thin, skins on, using a mandolin if you prefer. Spread them round a small saucepan. Sprinkle on a little nutmeg and add no more than 1 tablespoon of water. Close the lid and place on a very low heat and let simmer until they have really withered and become very soft. The delicate zucchini flavour with the nutmeg is truly enchanting and complements many main dishes.
In Turkey, pale zucchini are very common and quite popular. I have personally always been brought up with the dark shiny green variety and think they look infinitely better. On top of that, as many of us know, the more colourful the vegetable, the more goodness it carries, so I always go for the deep green ones myself. Sometimes however, they are not available and I have had to use the paler version and honestly, you cannot tell the difference. The flavour and texture are extremely close.
Zucchini is the Italian word for this vegetable and in France they are known as Courgettes. If they are left to grow fairly large then their sweetness is lost and they are then known as Marrows in England. Marrows are good for various relishes and chutneys or to add filling to a soup but otherwise their flavour pales in comparison to the younger vegies.
Anyway, apart from the obvious ways of using the zucchini vegetable, not to mention the flowers, boiled, steamed, roasted, grilled, shredded and the new spiralling method where we use them instead of noodles for our faux-pasta dish.
We now have this crazy green pudding to test out.
I was so surprised to find out how nice it was and delighted that it can be considered pretty good for us.
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