from my orchid kitchen

This savory cake with typical portuguese ingredients is ideal to serve with a salad to take to lunch at work, for a picnic, or even to the beach.

Inspired by the other arugula cake previously published here on the blog, I made a less vegetarian version with more Portuguese (or perhaps Iberian) flavors using chorizo, onions, and olives.

One of the advantages of this type of recipe is that it can be made the day before (and I guarantee that this cake tastes even better the next day than on the day itself...) and is well preserved if we want to savour it outside the home.

The ingredients

• Arugula/rocket leaves (for salad)
• Eggs
• Flour and baking powder - self-raising flour can also be used, in which case the teaspoon of baking powder is omitted.
• Olive oil - in this case, olive oil has two functions: to be the fat chosen as the base ingredient of this savory cake, and also to be the fat used to sauté the onion.
• Milk - you can use any type of milk, but if using vegetable milk you must take into account the flavor that will add to the recipe. Here I used oat milk.
• Cheese - for this recipe I prefer to use mozzarella cheese that has a relatively neutral flavor but can be substituted for Edam type of cheese.
• Onion - I chose to use fresh onion that is then sautéed in olive oil, to remove some of the onion's moisture and also add more flavor.
• Chorizo ​​- I used chorizo ​​that is bought thinly sliced, but you can substitute this for bacon cut into strips.
• Olives - since the quantity is still significant and to save time, I bought black olives that were already pitted and sliced.
• Garlic powder - in savory cakes I prefer to use this dry seasoning instead of fresh garlic because it is better distributed in the dough. However, chopped garlic can be used which will be sautéed along with the onion.
• Salt and Pepper - these are two basic spices that we use in almost everything.

How to make

• Start by chopping the onion and sauteeing it in a frying pan, using 1 or 2 tablespoons of the olive oil mentioned in the recipe.
• Allow it to cool before adding to the preparation.
• Beat the eggs, adding the spices - salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
• Later, the other liquid ingredients are added - olive oil (amount which was not used to sauté the onion), milk, and also the grated cheese.
• The arugula is removed from the package, and the leaves are checked, as there are usually some that may be wilted and must be discarded. If necessary, rinse them again and drain well before adding the arugula leaves to the egg mixture.
• Drain the slices of olives well from the jar and add to the preparation.
• Cut the chorizo ​​slices into thin strips (an easier way to do this is to cut the slices using kitchen scissors instead of using a knife), and place them in the bowl of the preparation.
• Once cooled, the onion can also be added to the other ingredients.
• Previously, the baking powder is well mixed with the flour, and then gradually the flour is added to the preparation so that there are no lumps, involving everything very well.
• Grease a loaf pan (in this case, 18x10cm) and line it with parchment paper.
• The preparation is poured into the pan and cooked at 180ºC, between 45 to 50 minutes.

Arugula, olives, onion & chorizo cake recipe

1. In a frying pan or small saucepan, brown the chopped onion using part of the oil in the recipe.
2. Reserve until cool.
3. In a bowl, beat the eggs and season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
4. The remaining olive oil, milk, and grated cheese are added.
5. Cut the chorizo ​​slices into thin strips.
6. Arugula, onions, sliced ​​olives, and chorizo ​​strips are added to the preparation.
7. In a bowl mix the flour with the baking powder.
8. Gradually, the flour is well wrapped in the preparation.
9. Place in a loaf pan previously greased and lined with parchment paper.
10. Bake at 180ºC for about 45 to 50 minutes.