Serves 4-6
75g butter in tiny dice
5 courgettes (about 475g), coarsely grated
2 tsp fine sea salt
450g self-raising white flour, sifted
2 tsp bakingpowder, sifted
25g curly or flat-leaf parsley, chopped, afew sprigs reserved
2 large eggs, beaten with a fork
400ml milk
75g strong Cheddar cheese, coarsely grated

Pre-heat the oven to Gas Mark 5 (190°C, 375°F). Line the long sides and base of a 2lb 20x13x9cm loaf tin with non-stick silicon paper, leaving 5cm above the rim. Rub a little butter over the unlined short ends. To remove the excess liquid from the grated courgettes, mix with the salt and pile into a nylon sieve set over a bowl. Leave to drip for 10 minutes, then squeeze the courgette until dry. Discard the salty juices. In a large bowl, combine the flour and baking powder, parsley and remaining butter. Add the courgette shreds. Whisk together the eggs and milk and add the cheese, then pour into the flour mix and stir with a knife to create a dense sticky batter; ensure there are no dry pockets of flour but do not overmix. Turn into the lined loaf tin and press in extra parsley sprigs on top, if liked. Bake for 20 minutes, then raise heat to Gas Mark 6 (200°C, 400°F) and bake for 20 minutes more until the top is golden and a skewer inserted at an angle comes out clean. Leave the loaf in the turned off oven for 10 minutes. Cool on a rack before turning out, running a knife around the edge of the tin to loosen.