Category: Courgettes

Yet another courgette (zucchini) recipe! Why, you ask? It’s too early for garden glut. I have signed up for a veg box delivery service to help us eat more vegetables in the winter. There’s a couple of purple cabbage recipes on the way as well. Guess what there’s a lot of in the veg box – oh yes, courgettes.

This is a quick bread recipe, so raised with baking powder and baking soda, not yeast. I used buttermilk (full fat obvs) for my recipe but any fermented milk product will probably do the trick; Greek yoghurt, creme fraiche, sour cream. There’s no butter or oil in the recipe so it does need the fat from the dairy products to achieve a good texture. Keep an eye on consistency, I found this batter relatively dry. If yours is too dry to spread in the pans, thin it out with milk.

You can also be flexible with the herbs: I used dried basil and dried chives because that’s what I had in the cupboard. You can also try some garlic or add in a handful of finely chopped spring onions.

One ‘must’ with this recipe – use small (1 pound) loaf pans and line them with parchment or purchased paper liners. Otherwise – a sticky mess and possibly new pans in your future. Also, try disposable miniature loaf pans for single portions, reduce the cooking time. My recipe made 3 modest small loaves, you could possibly cram the batter into 2 small pans.

Let’s get cooking.

Recipe

Ingredients

450 grams of courgettes (2 medium)

1 tsp sea salt

125 grams of plain white flour

125 grams of whole wheat flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda (sodium bicarbonate)

1/2 tsp sea salt

2 tablespoons dried chives

2 tablespoons dried basil

150 grams cheddar cheese

3 large eggs

170 grams buttermilk (3/4 cup)

Instructions

1. Grate the courgettes, add the teaspoon of sea salt, stir through, put in a colander in the sink and drain out the liquid. Leave for at least 30 minutes. When you’re ready to cook the recipe, put the courgettes in a clean tea towel and squeeze out the remaining liquid. Put to one side.
2. Preheat the over to 180C (350F). Needs a lower temperature and a longer cooking time to bake through.
3. Grate the cheese, put to one side.
4. In a large bowl, mix together all of the dry ingredients (flours, baking powder, baking soda, remaining salt) until well combined.
5. Add the shredded courgettes to the dry ingredients, it should look like the individual shreds are coated with flour.
6. Add the basil and chives (and any other spices of your choice) and the grated cheddar, combine with your hands or a baking whisk.
7. Beat together the eggs and buttermilk, in a separate bowl.
8. Fold the buttermilk and eggs into the dry mixture. As with any quick bread – do not beat or overstir, just until its combined. Makes it tough.
9. Using your trigger scoop, fill your prepared pans about 2/3 to 3/4 full. If you’ve gone for fuller pans, line a baking sheet and put them on that. Unless you like cleaning your oven, you’ll be glad you did this.
10. Bake for an hour in the lower part of the oven, if using 1 pound loaf pans, 45 minutes if using smaller loaf casings. It seems like a along time, but it’s a thick batter and needs the time to cook through. If the tops look too brown, cover with a piece of foil but don’t undercook.
11. Cool completely before removing. Lovely with just butter. We also toasted and had with our boiled eggs in the morning.

Thank you for reading the blog and trying the recipes. Let me know how it went in the comments below or on social media @mamadolson on Twitter and Instagram.

I stumbled across this ‘recipe’ the other day and it’s so simple and so good that you wonder where has it been all your life. Let me sum up – baste slices of courgette (zucchini you Americans) or aubergine (eggplant again for los Americanos) with olive oil and herbs and spices of your choice, throw on a hot grill, turn over, remove and eat.

I had tried different ways to cook courgettes on the grill as we (well the Davinator) often cooks over naked flame in the summer time. We have actually had a summer this year, some warm dry weather, rising to high 30s (38 = 100C) for two days. I tried courgette kebabs, making courgettes into ribbons and threading on kebabs – producing okay outcomes but nothing as lovely and simple grilling them.

We served these to some family members (2 of our grown children and their partners) and they gobbled them up so I’m claiming universal appeal. Five minutes of prep, 10 minutes on the grill and you’re ready to eat. Surprisingly – these did not stick to the grill either. ‘Cook until soft’ says the Davinator.

Recipe – generous for two people

Ingredients

• Olive oil (use the good stuff)
• salt
• pepper
• a small bunch fresh parsley or coriander (cilantro)
• substitute any herbs that you like, fresh or dried
• one large or two medium courgettes

Method

1. Find a flat bottomed dish, coat the bottom generously with oil, add salt, pepper and your choice of fresh or dried herbs and stir in.
2. Top and tail the courgettes. Slice lengthwise, about 1/2 to 1 cm thick. As you slice them, lay them in the dish, turn over and stack to one side. When all sliced and in, turn them all over a couple of times, cover the dish with cling film and carry it out to the grill.
3. Place on a hot barbecue, give them approximately 5 minutes per side on the high heat. You might want to pick them up and move them to keep them from burning. When they are soft and golden, they are ready to eat.

You can do the same with aubergine and if you have some beefy tomatoes, slice those and try them alongside.

Thank you for reading the blog and cooking the recipes. Leave comments and tag me if you’re cooking them, @mamadolson on Instagram & Twitter.

It’s that time of year – the garden plot is producing in abundance. Courgettes (zucchini) are always reliable, productive and seemingly disease resistant, at least in my garden. Here’s a link to 50 Ways to Use Your Squashes for ways to deal with the glut that that often results. One of the easiest is to oven roast them. Roasting has the benefit of helping you use up what ever excess you have in the garden or the refrigerator, it’s low calorie and vegan.

The roast vegetables in the photo include two yellow courgettes, some cavolo nero, two slightly aged shallots and the last handful of cherry tomatoes. I always use courgettes in this dish and usually an onion or two. But I’ve also included broccoli, cauliflower, mushrooms, peppers, aubergines (eggplant) and kale as well. This dish is very flexible. I wouldn’t use crunchy root vegetables like carrots, celery and radishes but otherwise most vegetables will blend nicely. I hate beets (beetroot) so never put them in any thing.

I’ve included a recipe below but it’s for illustrative purposes. Improvisation is your friend with this recipe. Change up any or all of the ingredients and the spices.

Recipe

Ingredients

2 medium sized courgettes (zucchini) 300 to 500 grams

1 bunch of cavolo nero or kale

2 large shallots or 1 onion

10 cherry tomatoes

Toasted sesame oil or olive oil

1 teaspoon of chilli flakes

2 teaspoons of dried chives

Salt and pepper

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 160C. Prep a shallow flat roasting pan – I use glass because it cleans well. Put a tablespoon of oil in the bottom of the pan.
2. Strip the cavolo nero off the stems and chop the leaves into 2 to 3 inch pieces. Place in the roasting pan.
3. Top and tail the courgettes. Cut in half, then split the halves. Cut courgettes into chunks and place in the roasting pan.
4. Peel the shallots or onions and slice into rounds. Throw into the pan on top of the courgettes.
5. Take the tomatoes off the stems and put in the roasting pan.
6. Drizzle another tablespoon of oil over the top of the vegetables. Sprinkle the chilli flakes and chives over the vegetables and top off with a twist of salt and pepper.
7. Place in the oven for 30 minutes. Give it a stir about half way through the roasting time.
8. Remove from the oven and serve. If you make extra, they are lovely cold or reheated.

Thanks for reading the blog, making the recipes and your comments and feedback.

If you’re drowning in a sea of courgettes or swept away by the zucchini tsunami – this soup is the perfect remedy. Five ingredients and ready in 20 minutes. Low in calories unless you go crazy with the cheese at the end. Our favourite soup this summer.

The only special equipment is a stick blender but if you don’t have one you can mash by hand or whack it in the food processor or the blender. I have two stick blenders – a domestic one for small jobs and a commercial one as powerful as an outboard motor. The Davinator got tired of me burning out domestic ones with jobs too big for them and sourced a commercial one from Nisbetts – it’s about as much fun as you can have with a kitchen appliance. Your domestic stick blender will be fine for this soup.

The soup has a lovely consistency – this comes from cooking the potatoes with just enough water to cover them. This means the starch from the potatoes stays in the soup and isn’t rinsed away when you drain them. I scrub the potatoes and do not peel them but you might want to peel them if the skins feel thick or tough.

I’ve added this blog to my ‘courgette roundup’ blog, lots of other great ways to use your courgette surplus. Use a vegetarian cheddar to make it suitable for vegetarians. Also easy to make a vegan version of this soup – it’s lovely without the cheese or use a vegan substitute. Remember to check your stock cubes if you’re cooking for a vegan or vegetarian some use animal products.

Hope you are staying safe and keeping well in these challenging times. Thank you for reading and sharing the blog. Send in requests and tag me in photos if you post on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook.

Ratatouille is a classic vegetable stew from the south of France. Don’t show this blog to any French people you know because we’re going to colour outside the lines with ingredients and preparation methods. Recipe is great for the vegetarians and vegans. We are trying for zero food waste and fewer trips to the market for ingredients so this recipe is all about flexibility.

Side note: Ratatouille, the movie, is one of those Pixar cartoons that’s secretly aimed at adults but also amuses children. We’ve got access to Disney+ while our son is home from university and we are shamelessly exploiting it. In the movie, they make an incredibly posh nouvelle cuisine version of ratatouille. We’re not cooking that today. There are posh versions – carefully colour coordinated and layered. That’s cooking as performance art and nobody has the time for that.

The beating heart of ratatouille is aubergine (eggplant you Americans) and tomatoes. Those are the only two mandatory ingredients for me (ducking now while purists hurl things at me). Most ratatouille also includes bell peppers, courgettes (zucchini again for you Americans), onions and garlic.

I consulted the hive mind of Twitter for other things you can and cannot put in ratatouille. No support for root vegetables (I suggested parsnips and carrots) and that includes potatoes, sweet potatoes and radishes. In fact several Tweeters more or less accused me of cooking heresy. Also beans (as in pulses) are verboten. I would tend to avoid cabbage as it has a strong taste and it needs bacon to make it edible. Cucumbers have so much liquid I would also avoid them.

Things you can put in ratatouille – pretty much any other vegetable in just about any form. Frozen mixed veg, corn from cans, summer squash, pumpkin, leeks, shallots. Kale, spinach and other sturdy greens are also acceptable. Go for it.

I consulted my vegetable drawer and my store cupboards and my latest ratatouille had one aubergine, two tins of tomatoes, one red bell pepper, 2/3 of an orange bell pepper, one truly ancient courgette, some leeks and assorted onions (one Spanish, two white ones). I found some dried basil in the store cupboard that expired in 2007. 2007. Used that too.

I’ve included the ingredients in the recipe in the order that I put them in the pot. I use a large deep enamelled cast iron soup pot, don’t use aluminium – it doesn’t like the acid from tomatoes. You can find hundreds of ratatouille recipes on line – this one works for me.

Recipe

Ingredients

• olive oil to coat the bottom of the pot
• 3 garlic cloves, chopped fine (I don’t cook with garlic but its widely used)
• 2 medium onions, peeled, halved and sliced thinly (I use a hand held mandolin and slice them directly into the pot)
• 2 bell peppers, cored seeded and chopped into cubes of about 1.5 cm (half an inch or so) pieces
• 1 medium aubergine (eggplant) chopped into cubes, same size
• 1 medium courgette (zucchin) chopped into cubes, same size
• 2 tins of chopped tomatoes with juice or 6 fresh tomatoes, cored and seeded
• bunch of fresh basil or 2 tablespoons of dried basil
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Coat the bottom of the stock pot with a generous layer of olive oil and heat until it smells sweet (medium heat). Add the garlic, give it a couple of minutes.
2. Add the sliced onions, stir to coat with oil and cook until they begin to soften, about five minutes
3. Repeat with the bell peppers, then the aubergine, then the courgette.
4. Add the tomatoes and stir to coat. Bring to a slow simmer and cook for about 20 minutes once simmering.
5. Watch to see that it doesn’t get too dry and start to stick to the bottom of the pan. Cautiously add water if it looks dry.
6. About 5 minutes before it’s finished add the basil (chopped if fresh) and salt and pepper to taste.

Serve up with your favourite carbohydrate base. I’ve seen the Davinator eat ratatouille on bread, pasta and mashed potatoes (not all at the same time). It’s been eaten as a breakfast dish with a couple of fried eggs as well.

It will last several days in the refrigerator.

Thank you for reading, commenting, cooking the recipes and for sharing on social media.

My homage to Paul Simon, folks.  This blog post does not have 50 recipes for your courgettes (neither does the song list the 50 ways) but it should help you use your produce.

 What is it about courgettes that make them so prolific? They must be hardy enough to resist ambivalent (and lazy) gardeners (like me).  My first year, I put in six, yes six courgette plants.  OMG – did we have a lot of courgettes.  Now I plant three.  Some bit of ancient vegetable growing wisdom I have retained says three is the minimum number for pollination purposes.   Even three produce a lot of courgettes most years.

I really hate to throw away food I grew myself.  I have therefore accumulated a number of ways to prepare, preserve and eat courgettes.

 Here’s my round up of ideas and some specific recipes to make eating courgettes a joy not a chore. Hopefully, something for everyone. All of these recipes I’ve test cooked and the Davinator has eaten. 

1.  KISS – keep it simple, spiralize.  A spiralizer (many choices for less than £10 on Amazon) turns your vegetables into noodles.  Sautéed in butter, added to soups, salads and stir fry. Cover them with your favourite pasta sauce.  This is super use of the squash, especially when you harvest early and don’t let them turn into seed filled giants.
   
2. Just eat your vegetables.  Slice into 5 millimetre pieces, then chop in half.  Cook in boiling water or steam for 2 to 5 minutes depending on size and your preferences on the texture of your vegetables.  Alternatively, cut 1 inch slices and quarter these. Sauté in butter with a few chilli flakes and salt and peppel. Divine.
   
3. Get your revenge in first.  Make fried-courgette flowers.  Pick the flowers on stems (will never be courgettes) or small courgettes when the flowers are still attached.  You can either fry the flowers with the small courgettes attached or separate them and cook them separately.   Recipe link here: <fried courgette blossoms>
    
4. Use your weapon of mass consumption.  There’s nothing like chutney to use up large and diverse amounts of fruit and vegetables.  Sugar, vinegar, spices, onions and then a squash, a vegetable and a fruit component.  Here’s my recipe – <courgette chutney>.
   
5. Do it doughnut style.  Baked chocolate courgette doughnuts are about the healthiest doughnuts you can make and eat.  Of course, ‘healthiest’ doughnuts maybe a low bar but this recipe produces crowd pleasing treats – <chocolate courgette doughnuts>.
   
6. Put summer in a jar.  Courgette marmalade with ginger and lemon tastes like summer when you open it in November or gift it to good friends at Christmas time. This is not a recipe for newbies to making jam and marmalade but if you’re not intimidated by boiling sugar go for it.  Link here:  <spiced courgette marmalade>.
   
7. Hide the vegetables by burying them in deep dark chocolate cake. It’s all in the name.  This is a favourite of family, friends and co-workers.  So rich, it doesn’t need any icing or topping but you can go wild and slather it in whipped cream.  Link here. <deep dark chocolate cake>.
   
8. Pixar it up. One of my favourite Pixar movies is Ratatouille.  And you don’t have to be a Parisian rat to make awesome ratatouille.  Most cooks have a favourite recipe but ratatouille is very flexible. The core ingredients are courgette, aubergine, tomatoes and peppers.  Here’s a basic recipe that uses canned tomatoes but if you’ve got a glut go ahead and use them.  I would peel and core the tomatoes if you’re using fresh.  Link here: easy and flexible ratatouille.
   
9. Quickly now. Make quick whole wheat courgette bread.  It’s simple and quick and makes a good on the go breakfast treat. Link here: <whole wheat courgette bread>.
   
10. Round up……. Time to use your imagination and Google: courgette fritters, courgette terrine, courgette soup, tomato courgette spaghetti sauce.  Frittata with courgettes is one of my favourites. Link here: < frittata with courgettes>
    
11. Soup it up. Here’s the best courgette soup recipe I’ve found.
    
12. Get grilling. This is my new favourite grilled vegetable recipe.
    
13. Courgette and herb pilaf, you’ll never notice the courgettes.

Hopefully, these recipes will help you mop up the courgette tsunami and dig out from under the zucchini avalanche.  Thank you for reading the blog.   Please send comments, suggestions and requests.

You’ve made fried courgette flowers, ratatouille, chocolate courgette donuts, courgette marmalade and spiralised seemingly countless squash. What’s left? Time to make chutney. Chutney is a mixture of fruit, vegetables, vinegar, spices and enough sugar to bind it all together. It is usually eaten as a condiment (like Branston pickle or piccalilli) but I can’t swear that the Davinator has not eaten a sneaky chutney sarnie from time to time.

Like ratatouille there are an endless number of chutney recipes on the internet. And to be honest if you cook it long enough and slow enough, ingredients become chutney. This one works for me – the main ingredients seem to ripen at the same time in my garden. It’s based on a recipe from BBC GoodFood which has a wealth of practical and straightforward recipes for home cooks.

Once you’re comfortable with the recipe it’s easy to vary the component fruit and vegetables. The ‘chutney base’ is the vinegar, sugar and spices. Then it’s a squash element, a vegetable element (don’t start on tomato is actually a fruit) and a fruit element.

Recipe

Ingredients

• 500ml (17.5 fluid ounces) cider vinegar or white wine vinegar
• 400g (14 ounces) brown sugar (light or dark)
• 1 tbsp allspice
• 2 tbsp yellow mustard seed
• 3 cinnamon sticks
• 1 thumb sized piece of fresh ginger, peeled and diced very small
• 4 onions, chopped
• 1kg (2.2 pounds) courgettes (zucchini), chopped
• 1kg (2.2 pounds) tomatoes, chopped with core removed
• 4 tart eating apples, chopped
• 300g (10.5 ounces) sultanas (raisins)

Method

1. Put the vinegar, 300ml water, sugar and spices in a large deep heavy pan. Heat, stirring regularly, until the sugar dissolves .
2. Add the remaining ingredients onions, courgettes, tomatoes, apples and sultanas) with a tsp of salt.
3. Bring to a simmer then bubble away uncovered for 2 to 3 hours until darkened, thick and chutney-like. Sometimes mine takes longer. I have turned it off over night.
4. Time to sterilise the jars. If you prep 6 250 to 300 ml jars that should be plenty. You can watch this video: jam jars or wash thoroughly in very hot soapy water. Rinse in very hot water then put on a baking sheet in a 140C/fan 120C/gas 1 oven until completely dry.
5. Pour the chutney into the sterilised jars while still hot, seal and leave in a cool dark place. The recipe suggests that you wait for at least 3 weeks before opening. That recipe writer has never met the Davinator. It might improve with age, I’ve never had it stay around long enough to find out.

Thanks for reading the blog. Please let me know if you’re enjoying the recipes, send comments, photos and requests.

Spicy courgette (zucchini) marmalade, reminds you of summer when you’re eating it on toast in January.