Victoria’s Badzina (Zucchini Pie)
Victoria’s Badzina (Zucchini Pie)
Badzina from Trikala, Thessalia, Greece, is a recipe generously shared with us by Victoria @cucina_victoria. Victoria is Melbourne born, with Greek heritage. She is currently living in Italy, with her husband, whose paternal heritage is Italian. Victoria draws on her Greek culinary heritage and her Italian location to create beautiful Mediterranean fare – so do follow her. Her badzina is an extra special family recipe!
All photographs supplied by @cucina_victoria.
Victoria's Badzina
A yummy zucchini, herb and feta slice with the lovely texture and taste of polenta on the base.
Ingredients
• 1 kg zucchini, grated
• 1-2 tsp salt
• A mixture of mint, fennel fronds, thyme (or any other herbs you like)
• 4 eggs
• 350 g feta, crumbled thickly for the filling
• 200-300 g Greek yoghurt, strained
• Salt and cracked pepper to taste
• 1-2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, EVOO
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 300-350 g spelt flour, sifted
• Polenta, medium grit
• 100-120 g feta, crumbled on top of the badzina
• More EVOO for drizzling
Instructions
Preparing the badzina
o Massage the salt into the zucchini and leave for at least 1 hour to rest
o Place large handfuls of the zucchini in the centre of a clean tea towel, pull up the four ends of the tea towel around the zucchini and bring them together, twist the end of the tea towel to remove as much moisture from the zucchini as possible
o Add the eggs, 350g of thickly crumbled feta, yoghurt, salt, pepper, EVOO, lemon zest and enough spelt flour to bring the batter together
o Combine well
o Baste the base and sides of a 40cm diameter baking tray with 1 tablespoon EVOO, before sprinkling liberally with polenta and ensuring the entire base and sides of the pan are coated with polenta
o Pour the badzina mixture into the pan
o Grease your hands with EVOO and pat the batter down, spreading it evenly across the pan
o Crumble 100g feta evenly across the top
o Drizzle with a little olive oil on top
o Bake at 180°C for 1 hour or until golden-brown on the base and on top
Serving the badzina
o Allow to cool briefly before serving
Kali Orexi!
