The following recipes came from a 2023 FLAG STAKE (Social Tea And Knowledge Exchange) session. There had been a request on what to do with a surplus of courgettes.
Panos has several Greek recipes from his grandmother.
Par boiled courgettes: Part boil small full courgettes. Add Olive oil and lemon juice then enjoy.
Dressed courgette: Slice your courgettes very thin and add a vinaigrette dressing or add them into a standard salad with a vinaigrette dressing.
Stuffed flowers: Take a courgette flower and stuff it with ricotta cheese and cayenne pepper.
Courgette fritters: Shred 3 to 4 courgettes (squeeze out the moisture), add a finely chopped/ shredded onion, herbs (e.g. coriander, dill, mint or parsley), an egg, chopped spring onions, small pieces of feta cheese and make into patties. Fry in hot deep (1.5 cm) oil. Oil must be very hot so it does not absorb the oil. Fry until crisp outside. Serve with yogourt.
Tee’s recommendation: Courgette and Orange Cake.
An Alison Fisher recipe from allotment cooks. https://www.allotmentcooks.co.uk/
350g finely grated courgette (I don't bother peeling)
200g soft brown sugar, 125ml veg oil, 3 eggs, 1sp vanilla essence,
100g sultanas or raisins (but I imagine most dried fruit would go well.)
300g self-rising flour
1 tsp baking powder,
zest of one orange.
Finely grate courgettes and squeeze out excess water.
You then mix with oil, eggs, orange zest, vanilla and dried fruit. Get the flour and fold it in with the baking powder, but don't over-mix it!!!
Bake for about 45-50 minutes on gas mark 4.
For the frosting: 200g Philadelphia soft cheese and 100g icing sugar plus a bit more orange zest mix together and chill whilst the cake baking.
Alex’s : Zucchini Bread
From smitten kitchen. https://smittenkitchen.com/2019/08/ultimate-zucchini-bread/
2 cups (13 ounces or 370 grams) grated, packed zucchini, not wrung out, grated on the large holes of a box grater
2 large eggs
2/3 cup (160 ml) of a neutral oil (I use sunflower), olive oil, or melted unsalted butter
1/2 cup (95 grams) packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon fine sea or table salt
1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground or freshly grated nutmeg
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 cups (260 grams) all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons (25 grams) raw or turbinado sugar
Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly coat a 6-cup or 9×5-inch loaf pan with nonstick spray.
Place grated zucchini in a large bowl and add oil, eggs, sugars, vanilla, and salt. Use a fork to mix until combined. Sprinkle cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, and baking powder over surface of batter and mix until combined — and then, for extra security that the ingredients are well-dispersed, give it 10 extra stirs.
Add flour and mix until just combined. Pour into prepared loaf pan and smooth the top. Sprinkle with the raw or turbinado sugar — don’t skimp.
Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, until a toothpick or tester inserted into the middle cake but also into the top of the cake, closer to the dome, comes out batter-free.
Let cool completely in the pan. Leave in pan, unwrapped, overnight or 24 hours, until removing (carefully, so not to ruin flaky lid) and serving in slices. Zucchini bread keeps for 4 to 5 days at room temperature. I wrap only the cut end of the cake in foil, and return it to the baking pan, leaving the top exposed so that it stays crunchy.
A selection from the Leicester Household.
Some do use other flavours and the courgette as a bulk ingredient! All good though.
The simple option: Stating the obvious just streaming courgettes in a steamer is also good if you have other parts of the meal with lots of flavour.
Courgettes aux Tomatoes: - Based on a Liz David recipe but with changes from Tim's mother Mary. We do this a lot. Nice taste and actually quite simple!
1 lb small courgettes ( Large also works)
½ lb tomatoes skinned. (Put in a bowl, pour boiling water over, wait a few minutes, remove and skin should slide easily off). Also you can use tomatoes puree but better with fresh tomatoes.
Olive oil 1 table spoon
Butter (or marge)
Garlic 1 clove
Salt/ pepper
Herbs Basil (best) or Oregano/Marjoram. (These Herbs not in the ED original)
Optional frozen peas (Not in the original)
Wash courgettes and slice into ¼ to ½ inch. If large slice lengthways first. Elizabeth David says dry first with salt in a colander for an hour or two. We don’t bother with that but do pat them dry on a tea towel.
Put one table spoon olive oil plus equivalent of butter in deep frying pan or saucepan.Add courgettes on a medium heat, covered to heat up and start then we have it uncovered later.
Cook steadily. Add one clove crushed garlic (Optional, as long as putting herbs you may choose not to use garlic) and once courgette’s start to soften add the tomatoes skinned and rough chopped.
After about 5 minutes Add pepper and fresh chopped herb: - about a table spoon of chopped Basil or Oregano/Marjoram
Cook until the tomatoes turn into a sort of sauce.
Sometimes we combine with peas. Add some frozen in the last few minutes to cook.
Courgette pea and basil soup
A recipe from the Ottolenghi SIMPLE book: Uses lots of courgettes but actually main taste comes from peas and basil. For an Ottolenghi recipe actually quite simple! https://ottolenghi.co.uk/simple.
The key to keeping a green soup as green and vibrant as can be is not to overcook it. Once the peas and basil have been added to the pan you want to remove it from the heat and blitz it straight away. This can be made 3 days in advance if kept in the fridge, and up to I month if frozen.
Serves eight
75ml olive oil, plus extra to serve
1 head of garlic, cloves separated and peeled
About 6 courgettes, chopped into 3cm thick slices (1.3kg). Also works fine with larger courgettes
1 litre vegetable stock
500g frozen peas
50g basil leaves
200g feta, broken into 1-2cm pieces
1 lemon: finely grate the zest to get two teaspoons
tsp salt and black pepper
Put the oil into an extra-large saucepan and place on a medium high heat. Add the whole garlic cloves and fry for 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently until they turn golden.
Add the courgettes, 2 teaspoons of salt and plenty of pepper and continue to fry for 3 minutes, stirring continuously, until starting to brown. Pour in the stock, along with 500ml of water, and bring to the boil on a high heat. Cook for 7 minutes, until the courgettes are soft but still bright green.
Add the peas, stir through for 1 minute, then add the basil. Remove from the heat and, using a stick blender or liquidiser, blitz until the soup is smooth and vibrant green.
When ready to serve, spoon into eight bowls and top with the feta and lemon zest. (Also good with lemon juice). Finish with a good grind of black pepper and a drizzle of oil.
A slightly heartier version of this soup - made with chicken stock and topped with pan-fried cubes of ham or pancetta - is also delicious.
Cooked Veg Steamed courgettes with garlic and oregano
A recipe from the Ottolenghi SIMPLE book https://ottolenghi.co.uk/simple
Despite the book title not simple but worth the effort for what feels like a quite sophisticated courgette outcome!
Ottolenghi suggests you try to get small and young courgettes for this if you can: “their tenderness is heaven when steamed. I love the thin slices of row garlic but of this doesn't appeal then just add the fried oregano leaves. These are either a simple and delicate starter or work well served alongside other mezze with some bread”. Don’t combine with a strong flavoured meal, it would be wasted.
Serves four
800g mixed young courgettes, ends trimmed. (Also good with larger courgettes.)
250ml chicken or vegetable stock
4 garlic cloves, sliced paper-thin
20 oregano sprigs (20g)
2 tbsp olive oil flaked sea salt
Preheat the oven to 200°C fan.
If the courgettes are really small you can keep them whole, but, for any larger ones, cut them into quarters, lengthways, and sit them in a high-sided ceramic baking dish, about 27 x 22cm, cut side facing up. They should all be sitting together snugly.
Pour the stock into a small saucepan with half the garlic and half the oregano sprigs. Bring to the boil. Sprinkle the courgettes with 4 teaspoon of flaked salt and then pour over the boiling stock. Cover the dish tightly with foil and bake for 45 minutes, until the courgettes are completely soft. Remove from the oven and set aside to slightly cool.
Remove the leaves from the remaining oregano sprigs and discard the stems. Put the olive oil into a small frying pan and place on a medium high heat. Once hot, add the leaves and fry for about 1½ minutes, until they begin to crisp up. Remove from the heat and transfer to a small bowl.
When you are ready to serve, lift the courgettes out of the warm stock and divide them between individual plates or arrange on one platter. Drizzle over the oregano oil and crispy leaves, along with ½ teaspoon of flaked salt. Sprinkle over the remaining garlic slices and serve.
Stuffed Courgettes:
Based on an recipe from the Ottolenghi SIMPLE book. https://ottolenghi.co.uk/simple
A good way to deal with very large Courgettes: you'll be able to scrape them more easily without damaging them and have plenty of flesh to stuff back inside. A mix of yellow and green courgettes also looks great, if you can get hold of both. You can make the stuffing a day ahead so that the courgettes are ready to be stuffed and grilled.
Serves two as a main or four as a starter
2 large courgettes, halved lengthways (500g) (We have also used large 1 kg courgettes for this)
½ garlic clove, crushed
1 large egg, beaten
40g Parmesan (or pecorino), finely grated
40g fresh sourdough breadcrumbs (1 slice, crusts are fine) quartered (Normal bread also works fine)
100g cherry tomatoes,
1 large lemon: finely grate the zest to get 2 tsp, then juice to get 1 tbsp
4 tbsp finely chopped oregano leaves, plus a few extra leaves to serve (5g)
35g pine nuts, lightly toasted
3 tbsp olive oil and salt
Preheat the oven to 230°C fan.
Use a dessertspoon to hollow out the flesh of the courgettes s and make them into the shape of canoes: don't scrape them out completely, though eg -you want the sides to be about Icm thick and the courgettes should still hold their shape. Transfer the flesh to a sieve, and squeeze and discard as much liquid as you can: you should be left with about 100g of drained courgette flesh. Put this into a medium bowl and stir in the garlic, egg, Parmesan, breadcrumbs and 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Use your hands to crush the tomatoes well, then add these to the bowl of courgette mixture. Stir to combine and set aside.
In a separate bowl, mix the lemon zest, oregano and pine nuts. Stir half of this into the courgette mixture and set the rest aside for the salsa.
Place the hollowed courgettes on a medium baking tray or ovenproof dish, hollowed side facing up. Drizzle 1 tablespoon of oil (in total) over the courgettes and season with % teaspoon of salt (in total). Spoon the courgette mixture back into the hollows and bake for 15 minutes, until the filling is set and golden-brown.
While the courgettes are baking, make the salsa. Add the lemon juice, remaining 2 tablespoons of oil and ½ teaspoon of salt to the bowl of oregano and pine nuts. Let the courgettes cool a little. Spoon over the salsa, sprinkle with oregano leaves and serve.
Courgette / Potatoes Humous:
An Anna Jones recipe for Skordalia from the modern cooks year. A great book for seasonal vegetables recepies. https://annajones.co.uk/books/modern-cooks-year
300g floury potatoes.
300g Courgettes cut into 2cm slices or cubes if large.
140 ml Olive oil.
2 cloves of Garlic.
The juice of one lemon.
5g toasted almonds.
Put the potatoes (skins on) into plenty of cold salted water and bring to the boil. Simmer for 25-35 minutes, depending on the size of your potatoes.
Put the courgettes into a frying pan with a good drizzle of olive oil and fry over a low heat for 20-25 minutes until they have broken down and are buttery and soft.
Meanwhile, chop the garlic finely, add a pinch of salt and use the side of a knife to crush the garlic into a fine paste. (or use a crusher) Once the potatoes are cooked, drain and leave to steam dry. When cool enough to handle, peel them, then push them through a sieve, mouli or a potato ricer (We usually just use a potato masher, not as fine a result but less faff).
Add the garlic paste.
Once the courgettes are cooked, put them into a blender with half the oil and whizz until completely smooth-you don't want any lumps. You may need to add a little water if it needs loosening.
Bit by bit, beat the courgette mixture, remaining oil and lemon juice into the potato mix. Check the skordalia for salt and pepper and place in a bowl. Scatter the chopped toasted almonds on top.
Tim [plot 31W]
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