Courgette, cheddar and basil quick breads

Many courgette bread recipes call for courgettes that are just grated and added straight to the batter, however in this recipe I have grated, salted and thoroughly squeezed the courgettes to remove as much moisture as possible. By doing this you can add twice as much courgette to the mixture, which is better for your five-a-day (or ten!) and adds to the delicate vegetable flavour.

As these loaves are very moist inside, they will last a day or two, covered, on the work surface. But for the very best freshness I suggest freezing – they defrost quickly either at room temperature or in a low oven.

I like the insides of my loaves to be a little custardy, but if you prefer your loaves to be more crumbly and bread-like, you can leave out one of the eggs.

I have baked this mixture in disposable mini loaf casings, but if you would prefer to bake the mixture as a whole loaf, increase the cooking time to about one hour.

It is extremely important to leave these loaves to thoroughly cool before attempting to remove from the paper casings. If they are still warm, they will stick to the sides of the casing and you loaves will be destroyed. So no matter how hungry you are, and no matter how yummy they look – back away!