Nutrition
| Per 100 g | Per 1 oz (28 g) | |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | 296 kcal | 84 kcal |
| Protein | 18.5 g | 5.3 g |
| Fat | 4.6 g | 1.3 g |
| saturated | 1.4 g | 0.4 g |
| Carbohydrate | 40.1 g | 11.4 g |
| sugars | 39.2 g | 11.1 g |
| Fibre | 15.4 g | 4.4 g |
| Sodium | 132 mg | 37 mg |
Estimated from the ingredients, for the finished dried product. Actual values vary with the produce you use and how far you dry it.
Ingredients
- 1.2 kg medium zucchinis
- 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
- salt to taste
- pepper to taste
- chilli powder to taste
Instructions
- Choose smaller zucchini with tight skin. The large ones are watery and seedy through the middle, and those seeds turn into soft specks that never crisp.
- Slice at 3 mm on a mandolin. This is thin enough that cutting by hand is a real handicap: a round half a millimetre thicker than its neighbours will still be bending when they are finished.
- Toss the rounds in the cider vinegar first and let them stand a minute before any seasoning. The vinegar draws a little water to the surface and gives the chilli powder and pepper something to grip.
- Salt at the same stage and expect beads of liquid to appear. Pour those away rather than carrying them onto the tray.
- Peel the slices apart as you lay them out. Wet zucchini rounds cling together in pairs, and a pair dries as one thick slice.
- Dry at 57 °C for 12 hours. They shrink to a fraction of their size and turn translucent well before they turn crisp, so a chip that looks like stained glass is not there yet.
- Test one that has been off the tray a minute: it should shatter rather than fold. Zucchini holds an enormous amount of water for its weight and the final hour makes most of the difference.
- Jar them tightly for about a month. They pull moisture straight back out of the air, and a batch gone limp can be restored with ten minutes back in the machine.
