Flo: An Ode to Courgettes

One of the things that we grow year in and year out is the resilient, slug-defying courgette. This humble vegetable is often overlooked and can be surprisingly delicious. While reading up on this, I found that I am not alone in my defence of the courgette and have included links to the two best tributes. 

They are simply delicious; sliced super thin, griddled and dressed with olive oil, lemon, and black pepper; stuffed; and grated into a sweet, earthy cake, just as my American step grandmother makes. See here for Slater’s courgette cake and other recipes, and here for Ottilenghi's stuffed, crushed, and grilled recipes.

Here are three of my own favourite courgette recipes, raw courgette salad, stuffed courgette rolls, and tempura courgette flower. These recipes can be made even more beautiful with yellow courgettes which you can get at the Parliament Hill Farmer's Market, NW5 (see review here) and other specialist/foodie places.

Super Simple Raw Courgette Salad

Raw courgettes have a lovely nuttiness. This salad is extremely simple but delicious. It would also be nice with basil if you don't have mint, or with some rocket mixed in, or sweet yellow cherry tomato halves. It is a great accompaniment to a light lunch or supper. 

Ingredients - serves 4

2 medium cougettes

parmesan, 1 inch

small handful of mint leaves

extra virgin olive oil

1 lemon

Salt and pepper

Thinly slice your courgette - the thinner the better. I like to do mine in the machine. Finely chop the mint. 

To make the dressing put 2 table spoons of olive oil in a jar with the juice of half a lemon, salt and pepper. Shake it up to mix.

Put the courgette and mint in a bowl, toss with the dressing and then shave the parmesan over it.

Courgette Rolls

These little courgette rolls are perfect for a pre-diner party aperitif or snack with cocktails. Plus they only take about 10-15 minutes to make. I would recommend 2-3 per person. I did it for 3 people and really enjoyed them. In the future, I would also like to experiment by doing it without the parmesan and put some pomegranate seeds in the filling and mint leaves instead of basil...

Ingredients
For the filling
100g mascarpone
1 tsp olive oil (basil infused is nice)
8 basil leaves
2 tsp pine nuts
2 tsp Parmesan, grated but not pre-grated!
1 tsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp lemon rind
Salt and pepper to season
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped spring onion

For the courgette
1 medium - small courgette
Salt, pepper, olive oil
2-3 tsp Parmesan, grated


Toast pine nuts by heating a small frying pan and tossing them for about 30 secs to a minute. Put aside. 

Prepare the rest of the filling ingredients, lemon juice and rind, roughly chopped basil etc., and mix together in a bowl. Season to taste with the salt and pepper.

Turn the grill on a medium heat. Finely slice the courgette into long thin strips (easiest with a mandolin). They should be 3-5mm thick. Rub in oil, salt and pepper and put on baking tray as such:

Put under the grill for 3 mins. Take out and sprinkle the Parmesan over. Put back under the grill for 1-2 mins.

Take out and carefully take a strip onto a chopping board/plate. Dollop on a tsp of the filling and roll up. If you want it to be finger food you can make them more secure by putting a tooth pick through them.

Tempura Courgette Flower

You need to eat these straight after cooking. They should be lovely, light and crispy. Ottilenghi's tempura is great and precise and you can see a recipe (ignore the dipping sauce) here: I only used chili flakes in mine. 

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