Savoury Muffins

These are a delicious and nutritious snack, suitable for breakfast, brunch, served for lunch with a leafy green salad or popped into the school lunchbox. When I am cooking these for breakfast I usually measure and prepare the ingredients the night before, then throw them together and into the oven first thing in the morning.

makes 16
V

what you need
1½ cups (240g) wholemeal plain flour or spelt flour
1½ cups (225g) unbleached plain white flour or spelt flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp paprika
1 cup (100g) grated mozzarella
1 red onion, finely diced
1 red capsicum, finely diced
2 green shallots, finely sliced
1 zucchini, grated
1 cup fresh corn kernels (from 2 cobs)
handful of fresh herbs, chopped (see note)
120g feta, diced
3 eggs
1 cup (250ml) full cream milk
½ cup (125ml) tomato sauce (see basics page 15) or 1 tbsp tomato paste
125g butter, melted and cooled

what you do
1. Preheat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan forced) and lightly grease 16 medium muffin tins, or line with paper cases.
2. Sift the flours, baking powder and paprika into a large mixing bowl, and return the husks. Add the mozzarella, onion, capsicum, shallots, zucchini, corn, herbs and feta.
3. In a separate bowl, lightly beat the eggs and milk with a fork, then add the tomato sauce or paste and the butter. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and fold together until evenly combined (don’t overbeat, or the muffins will be tough). Spoon evenly into the prepared muffin tray.
4. Bake for 35-40 minutes, until risen and golden brown. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Note: Use any one, or a mixture of the following herbs: chives, parsley, basil, oregano.

Storage: The cooked muffins can be kept, tightly wrapped in foil, for up to 3 days in the fridge or in the freezer for up to one month. Reheat in a moderate oven to serve.

 GF option: Substitute the wholemeal and plain flour with 3 cups of rice flour. Use gluten-free baking powder.

 sweetcorn (or just ‘corn’), is a variety of maize with a high sugar content. Unlike field corn varieties, which are harvested when the kernels are dry and fully mature, sweetcorn is picked when immature and eaten as a vegetable, rather than a grain. Corn on the cob is a sweet corn cob with its outer husk removed, which can be boiled, steamed or grilled whole. The kernels are then eaten directly off the cob. Kernels can also be cut off raw or cooked cobs to be used as required. Corn is an excellent source of dietary fibre, potassium, and vitamins.

 © Jane Grover - NAKED FOOD - the way food was meant to be