Yield: two 11’’x17’’ pans

What’s a tuile?  It’s something half-way between a kugel and a cracker.  Think shredded vegetables held together with the smallest amount of batter and baked until crispy.  The cornmeal and pumpkin seeds in this version add extra crunch and different textures making it an addictive side-dish for both adults and children alike.

Leftovers will be a bit softer, but just as tasty.  They work as breakfast, snack food or side, particularly dipped in a cashew-based sour-cream.

Better yet, it’s another way to use up extra starter from keeping the sourdough pot fed! As anyone who has kept a sourdough pot can attest to, it can be tough keeping up with the excess starter that maintaining a robust culture demands, particularly if you aren’t baking bread every couple of days.

What you need for the batter:

• 1 cup starter
• 1 cup cooked, chopped carrots
• 6 tablespoons water
• 1/8-1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano (Mexican oregano if available)
• 2 tablespoons chia seeds
• 1 tablespoon tamari or soy sauce
• 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 cup coarse yellow cornmeal
• 2 teaspoons olive oil mixed with 1/2 teaspoon baking soda to form a slurry

What you need for the veggie-mix:

• 2 large carrots, spiralized* (see note) or grated
• 1 large sweet onion, halved and sliced into papery thin half-moons
• 2/3 cup raw pumpkin seeds

What you do:

1. In a blender, purée together the cooked carrot, cayenne, paprika, oregan, tamari, water, salt and chia until relatively smooth.
2. Pour the slurry into a non-metallic and add the starter. Mix well.  Cover with a damp towel and leave in a warm place to ferment 8-12 hours, or at least an hour or two until the chia seeds bloom.
3. As the fermentation period comes to an end, preheat the oven to 400 F and grease two 11’’x17’’ rimmed baking pans, or line them with parchment paper.
4. In a large bowl, mix together the spiralized* or grated carrot, onion slices and pumpkin seeds.
5. Go back to the batter now. It will seem thin but that’s okay.  Mix the oil and soda slurry into the fermented batter along with the cornmeal.  Pour it all into the large bowl of shredded veggies and seeds, mixing to coat everything evenly.
6. Divide between the two prepared pans and spread/press out into a thin even layer on each pan.
7. Bake for 25 minutes and then flip the pans from top to bottom and bottom to top in the oven. Bake another 15 minutes, until crispy.
8. Let cool a little and then cut or tear the tuile into large squares using a pair of scissors or your hands.
9. Serve.

*Note: Spiralized refers to carrots shredded into the thinnest of angel-hair “spaghetti” using a tool called a spiralizer, which is popular in raw food and food dressing circles.  Plain old grated carrot works just fine if you don’t have the fancier kitchen doo-dad.