The popularity of Pashtida, a crustless pie or simply put, kugel, peaks during the holiday of Shavuot. But it’s a favorite year-round for potluck parties, midweek dinners and easy entertaining.
This specific one is perfect for Passover too, as the flavor and texture keeps well when regular flour is replaced with matzo meal.
A pashtida will usually include one or more seasonal vegetable, eggs and starch. Many include soft or hard cheeses.
Zucchini pashtida is one of the most popular and is available in both parve and dairy versions. This is my favorite version, it’s adapted from the king of pashtidot, Israeli chef Kobi Bar, and it is parve. It lets the zucchini shine!
Zucchini pashtida (kugel)
Course: Pastries, appetizersCuisine: Israeli, JewishDifficulty: Easy6
servings20
minutes1
hour10
minutes1
hour30
minutesThe popularity of Pashtida, a crustless pie or simply put, kugel, peaks during the holiday of Shavuot. But it’s a favorite year-round for potluck parties, midweek dinners and easy entertaining.
*Note: You will get the best result in this recipeusing the Middle Eastern type of zucchini/squash, which is lighter in color than the American zucchini, shorted and rounder. It is sometimes called “cousa” (zucchini in Arabic) or Magda zucchini, and it’s available at most Middle Eastern grocery stores in the US. If you can’t find these Middle Eastern squash, you can definitely use regular zucchini, but it is recommended to peel it, to avoid some of the bitterness in its skin.
INGREDIENTS
6 medium-sized zucchini (2½ lb.) preferably the Middle Eastern type (*see note above)
2½ teaspoons kosher salt
2 medium yellow onion
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
⅔ cup *corn, avocado or mild olive oil (*corn oil is kosher for Passover only for legume eaters)
⅓ cup water
1½ cups all purpose flour or matzo meal
1½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon turmeric
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon dried parsley
½ teaspoon dried taragon (optional)
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
DIRECTIONS
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9″ by 12″ pan with oil.
- If you’re using regular zucchini, it is recommended (but not necessary) to peel it first. Grate zucchini on a large grater and transfer to a colander. Sprinkle with the salt, mix, and let stand in the sink or over a large bowl for 20-30 minutes (some liquid will drip.)
- Squeeze the liquid out of the zucchini using your hands, one handful at a time. Put in a large bowl. Discard the liquid.
- Grate the onion on a large grater too and add to the zucchini without the released liquid from the onion. Add eggs, oil and water and mix well.
- In a separate medium bowl, mix flour, baking powder and spices and mix, then add to the zucchini mixture and mix well.
- Pour mixture into pan and bake for 60-70 minutes, or unti the center is set and the pashtida is golden brown on top. Add more time as needed. Remove from oven and let sit for 15 minutes before serving. Keep covered in the fridge up to 5 days.
Hello Vered! Thank you for this amazing recipe! It looks so yummy!
Can we make it ahead and freeze?
Thank you, Raquel. It’s really one of my favorites.
Unfortunately, this pashtida does not freeze well, as the zucchini release too much liquid after freezing and the texture becomes too watery. But you can make it a couple of days ahead of time and keep in the fridge, if that helps. Chag sameach!
Hello, this looks really good and I want to try it, but I wonder if I can substitute grated potatoes for the matzo meal. So, basically a potato/zucchini kugel.
Hi Eva, thank you. The reason for using matzo meal, or bread crumbs, is to absorb some of the liquid released during the baking. Potatoes will not absorb liquid and I’m afraid the kugel will come out too runny. If you want to avoid gluten you can use gluten free breadcrumbs. I hope this is helpful.