Mexican Courgette & Tomato Bake
A warm Mexican bake: courgette and tomato in one Loopware container, one shelf, one temperature — golden edges and soft middles with nothing to watch.
Ingredients
- — All in —
- 160 g courgette, cut into 1 cm slices
- 160 g fresh tomatoes, cut into quarters or roughly chopped
- ½ onion (about 60 g), sliced
- 2 g cumin seeds, spooned level
- 2 g oregano, spooned level
- 2 garlic cloves, sliced
- 4 g red chilli, sliced
- 2 g paprika, spooned level
- 1¾ tsp tomato purée, straight from the tube
- 1 tbsp + ¼ tsp neutral oil, spooned in
- 1 tbsp + 1 tsp lime juice, squeezed
- 2.4 g salt (about ½ tsp), spooned level
- — Finish up —
- 6 g fresh coriander, chopped
Method
- Heat the oven to 180 °C (fan 160 °C).
- Everything except fresh coriander goes into the 1.6 L container: courgette, tomato fresh, onion, cumin seeds, oregano, garlic, red chilli, paprika, tomato purée, neutral oil and lime juice, seasoning included. Level it — an even layer bakes evenly. No lid.
- Onto the middle shelf, and set a timer for 56 minutes. Then leave it — opening the oven early only slows it down.
- When the timer goes off, check: bubbling at the edges, tender in the middle, golden on top. Not there yet? Set a timer for 8 more minutes. Golden is done — don't chase brown.
- Out of the oven (cloth or oven gloves): fresh coriander over the top. Rest for 5 minutes, then serve from the container.
- To reheat from the fridge: storage lid off, cooking lid on loose, add 30 ml water if the sauce has set firm, and use a gentle-to-medium heat — about 4–6 of 9 on a fitted induction hob, level 2 on a portable hob. Set a timer for 4 minutes; stir, then give it 2 minutes more until it is bubbling all over and piping hot right through. From frozen: add 50 ml water around the block, cooking lid on loose, use the same gentle heat for 8 minutes; loosen and stir, then give it 5 minutes more until bubbling all over and piping hot right through.
Heat
| Stage | Heat into the pan | Induction hob (settings 1–9) | Portable induction hob | What to look for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bake — one shelf, one temperature | oven at 180 °C (fan 160 °C) | — | — | bubbling at the edges; golden on top, not dark |
| Reheat from the fridge | oven at 160 °C (fan 140 °C), or a gentle hob | about 5 of 9 if reheating on the hob | level 2 if reheating on the hob | steaming hot right through |
Hob settings are not standard — the same number means different heat on different hobs. The power figures show how hard the pan is actually being heated. The settings shown are for a typical fitted induction hob with settings 1–9, and for a plug-in portable induction hob with power settings. Go by what you see in the pan, then remember the setting that gave it on your own hob.
Cook’s checks
- bubbling at the edges, tender in the middle, golden on top; golden on top.
- Pale or firm at the timer: 8 more minutes. Browning too fast: move the shelf down a rung.
- Cook with the cooking lid loose or vented; never heat with a friction-fit storage lid sealed. Container and lid get very hot — cloth or oven gloves.
- Test Kitchen recipes are created by our recipe creation team and are awaiting our kitchen team to capture the recipe's visual representation.
Nutrition
| Serving | Calories | Protein | Fat | Saturates | Carbohydrate | Sugars | Fibre | Salt / sodium |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 serving | 128 kcal | 3 g | 8 g | 0.6 g | 11 g | 6.8 g | 3.1 g | 0.5 g sodium (1.3 g salt) |
Nutrition information is provided for general reference only. Values are estimates based on typical ingredient data and will vary with brands, cuts, portion sizes and preparation. They are not intended as precise nutritional, dietary or medical guidance.