Asparagus, sundried tomato & olive loaf

400 kcal or less asparagus asparagus spear asparagus spears black olive black olives egg eggs food for friends gruyère homemade bread light lunch lunchbox mains mediterranean milk olive oil over an hour self-raising flour souffle summer sundried tomato sundried tomatoes thyme leaf thyme leaves veggie recipes

N/A

Cuts into 10 slices

Source

Ingredients

100ml olive oil , plus extra for greasing

250g asparagus spears , each cut into 3 pieces

200g self-raising flour

1 tbsp thyme leaves

3 large eggs , lightly beaten

100ml milk

handful pitted black olives

100g sundried tomatoes , roughly chopped

100g gruyère or Beaufort, grated

Method

Heat oven to 190C/fan 170C/gas 5. Oil and line the base of a loaf tin (approx 22 x 10 x 5cm) with baking paper. Cook the asparagus in boiling, salted water for 2 mins, drain, then cool quickly under cold running water. Pat dry.

Mix the flour and thyme with seasoning in a large bowl. Make a well in the centre, then add the eggs, milk and oil, stirring all the time to draw the flour into the centre. Beat for 1 min to make a smooth batter.

Reserve 5 asparagus tips and a few olives. Add the remaining asparagus, tomatoes, olives and two-thirds of the cheese to the batter. Pour into the tin, then put the reserved asparagus and olives on top. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese. Bake for 35-40 mins until the cake feels firm to the touch and is golden and crusty on top. Cool in the tin for 5 mins, then turn out and cool on a wire rack.