Excess zucchini combined with leftover lasagna filling and chives from the garden turn into a tangy, moist yeast bread.
Do you still have too much zucchini? Yeah, me too. The other night I had grand plans to make grilled zucchini lasagna roll-ups. But first I went for a bike ride along the river. Then I chatted on the phone with my Mom for a while. Then I made marinara sauce from the remaining garden tomatoes. Then I made the filling for the roll-ups. Then I grilled the zucchini. Then I ran out of steam.
The lasagna roll-ups turned into a small lasagna, which left me with quite a bit of leftover filling. I tucked the filling in the refrigerator overnight and thought about what to do with it. I have been making bread lately, mostly to get rid of the zucchini. First there was the Golden Semolina Zucchini Tomato Bread, and then there was a lusciously salty Zucchini Olive Bread. So I took it one step further and made a Zucchini Ricotta Bread with the filling.
The chive flavor really comes out in this bread, almost like an onion bagel. The spinach, chives, and zucchini (I used yellow zucchini) add flecks of color. Like all of these zucchini yeast bread recipes, this one is very moist, and stays that way for days.
- ¾ cup lukewarm water
- 2 Tbsp honey
- 2 tsp active dry yeast
- 3 - 3½ cups bread flour, separated
- 1 cup Kamut flour
- 2 cups grated zucchini
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
- ⅓ cup shredded fresh spinach leaves
- 1 Tbsp shredded Cheddar cheese
- 2 Tbsp chopped chives
- In a large bowl, or the stand mixer bowl, combine the water, yeast, and honey. Stir and let stand 15 minutes or until the yeast is foamy.
- Add 1 cup of bread flour. Beat to combine. Cover and let sit for 2 hours.
- Add the remaining ingredients and knead for about 4 minutes, adding more flour if necessary to keep dough held together.
- NOTE: This dough is very soft due to the zucchini moisture. You want the dough to hold together, but not to be too dry.
- Transfer to an oiled bowl. Cover and let rise for one hour or until doubled in size.
- Scrape dough out onto a floured board. Let rest for 10 minutes.
- Form dough into a loaf and place in a greased 8½ x 4½ inch pan or 9 x 5 inch pan.
- Cover and let rise ½ - 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Score the top of the loaf.
- Bake for 50 - 75 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 190 degrees.
- Remove from oven. Let cool for 5 minutes. Remove from pan and completely cool before slicing.
Can these zucchini bread recipes be baked in a preheated dutch oven
Bernadette, good question. These recipes make a soft loaf, with a similar texture to a basic soft white loaf. So I don’t think that they will work well in a Dutch oven. But, you could try! If you do, please let us know how it turns out.
Renee
Can I use regular AP flour instead of Kamut? Thanks.
Savanna, absolutely! Or white whole wheat would work too.
Renee
Do I squeeze or drain the moisture out of the zucchini before adding it to the dough?
Thank you!
Darlene
Darlene, since I used freshly grated zucchini for this recipe, I didn’t drain it. But, I would drain it if using frozen grated zucchini. Good luck!
Renee
I don’t see Chives listed on the ingredient list. should the spinach be chives?
thank you!
Dennise
Oh my goodness! Thank you Dennise for finding this “error.” The recipe should also include 2 Tbsp of chopped chives. I just updated it, so the print out should be correct now. It’s always good to have another set of eyes checking things out. Take care.
Renee