Courgettes – Got A Glut?

I was going to do a cherry recipe today, but the season is nearly over. Courgettes, on the other hand, are growing like Triffids. Here's a tip if you have an allotment. At planting time, discover what your neighbours are sowing. It makes the bartering at harvest time much simpler. We have a healthy specimen which was thrust on L yesterday.

While courgettes (or zucchini as much of the world knows them) may keep their appearance for a while, the flavour does deteriorate quite quickly after picking. Truth be told, they've never been my favourite veg; however, that changed after I acquired Courgette, one of a series of invaluable vegetable books by Christopher Trotter. Christopher, sadly, died fairly recently, but his books are readily available online, and from bookshops and farm shops. He was happy for me to reproduce his recipes, and I strongly commend his work to you.

The first of these is an incredibly simple one. Christopher credits John Tovey of Miller Howe in the Lake District. That's probably where my late Ma got it. Christopher's recipe grates the courgettes: I prefer them very thinly sliced. Note that it must be lime juice. Lemon doesn't work. And you have to use butter, not oil.

Marinated Courgettes in Butter

Ingredients

Quantity of courgettes, topped and tailed and either grated or very thinly sliced, preferably using a mandoline; juice and zest of 2 limes; about 50g butter.

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Put the cut or grated courgettes in a bowl. Add the lime juice and zest, and mix well. Leave for half an hour.

In a hot pan, melt the butter. When it starts to foam, add the courgettes. Cook quickly, tossing the veg about. This will take just a minute or two.

I like them just as they are, but you may wish to add a little s & p. Christopher says that he occasionally adds a splash of marsala. Chefs!

Courgette Roulade

This is a genius of a recipe. In essence you are using the courgette to make a savoury Swiss roll which you can fill with anything you fancy. Christopher suggests a warm version with a creamy mushroom filling as an alternative. I am reproducing his recipe exactly, but you could make life a lot easier for yourself by using ready roasted peppers from a jar. Remember to pat them dry.

Probably the most important part of the preparation is squeezing the grated courgette in a cloth to get rid of as much moisture as possible. You may want to do this two or three times.

Ingredients

500 courgettes (grated weight); 1 tbsp vegetable oil; 1 onion, peeled and finely chopped; 3 eggs, separated; s & p.

For the filling

1 red pepper (or slices of roasted peppers (see above); 150 ml crème fraîche; s & p.

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Preheat the oven to 375C/Gas Mark 6. Grease and line a 30 x 23cm baking tray with clingfilm.

Top and tail and grate the courgettes. (You need 500 g prepared weight.) In a large frying pan sweat the onion in the oil until soft, but do not colour. Squeeze the water out of the courgettes and add to the pan. Cook over a medium heat to soften and dry out a little. Season with s & p and set aside to cool.

Whisk the egg whites until just holding. Stir the yolks into the courgette mixture. Next fold the whites into the mixture. To do this loosen the mix by stirring in a spoonful of the whites, then fold in the remainder with a metal spoon to keep in as much air as possible. If the concept of folding is new to you, see my article Cake Making for Beginners from a few years ago.

Spread the mixture carefully onto the prepared tin and bake in the oven for 20 minutes until lightly coloured and just firm. Turn out onto a sheet of greaseproof paper and allow to cool.

Cut the pepper in half and remove the seeds and membrane. Make slashes on the sides and brush with olive oil. Increase the oven to 400C/ Mark 6 Ann and roast for half an hour. Allow to cool then peel off the skin and chop into small dice. Mix with the crème fraîche. Spread the mixture over the lid and roll up.

Photograph courtesy and copyright of Caroline Trotter. Christopher's books are available online and from good bookshops or farm shops. Caroline tells me that Courgette is now out of print, though I did find a copy available on eBay. Yours for a mere £30.41! (RRP £5.50) My copy is not for sale.

There will be no Tom's Food! next week. Thereafter we will be out researching. Columns in September will depend on circumstances and WiFi availability