Death by Courgette - recipes/cooking ideas needed!

[cottage garden]

There is always marrow and ginger jam? A great way to use up huge courgettes....

[October]

Thanks Alice, Nick and Two Sheds [wish I had two sheds...]!

Can't wait for the book to arrive Nick - I'm going to leave it on my daughter's worktop with a huge pile of courgettes for when she comes home!

Love the sound of the steak one - with the c's fried in butter.

Made marrow and ginger jam last year, Cottage Garden - with a huge marrow my friend forced on me! Some of it it still sitting inthe cellar. I see you are in East Sussex - not in Eastbourne, I suppose? Do you want any courgettes.....?

[mandyballantyne]

Courgette fritters

I made courgette fritters last night which were great, comes from the Delia Smith veggie book.

I did not measure out just chucked everything in!

350g courgette
350g potatoes
225g feta
1 large egg
2 tablespoon fresh mint
flour for dusting

Grate courgette and put in colander sprinkle with salt leave for one hour to drain. Rinse and squease out all moisture. (Took ages to get all water out but worth it)

Part boil potato then cool and grate.

Mix potato, courgette, mint and crumbled feta in large bowl and use two forks to combine add egg s&p then form into 6 fritters.

Brush fritters on both sides with butter/oil

Cook at 220 in oven 15 mins per side (or fry)

Delish!, Mandy

[mapcr77]

Stuffed Courgettes, Mexican style 1

Ingredients:

5 medium sized courgettes (about 4 inch)
300 gr minced meat
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1/4 onion, finely chopped
2 eggs, separated
1/2 cup flour
Vegetable oil as required

For the salsa:
2 cloves of garlic
10 small tomatoes
3 serrano chillies (can use jalapenos)
3 tsp vegetable oil
1 bunch fresh coriander leaves

PREPARATION
1) Boil the courgettes in water with salt until they change colour slightly and are almost soft. Remove from heat, drain and soak in cold water.
2) Cut the top of the courgette and keep aside. Hollow a bit and keep the pulp.
3) Fry garlic and onion until they begin to brown. Add minced meat, when it begins to cook, add courgette pulp, and season to taste. Remove from heat once its fully cooked.
4) Stuff courgettes with minced mixture and use the top of the courgette as a lid to cover it.
5) Beat egg whites until stiff. Slowly add yolks until well mixed.
6) Spread flour in a plate and roll the courgettes in it until they are fully covered. Then pass through egg mixture and fry until golden. Then put on paper towels to soak up excess oil.
7) For the salsa: blend garlic, tomatoes, chillies and coriander together (you may wish to pan fry the garlic first to make it less pungent). Then fry the mixture in a little oil until it boils and thickens a bit. Bring down the heat.
8) Add courgettes to salsa and heat thoroughly.
9) Enjoy!

[mapcr77]

Stuffed Courgettes, Mexican style 2

Ingredients: (since not all ingredients are available in the UK, i list the alternative)

4 courgettes (the round sort suggested)
1/2 cup sweetcorn
100 grs feta cheese (originally panela cheese)
100 grs mozzarela cheese (originally oaxaca cheese)
2-3 new potatoes, chopped
2 carrots, chopped

Preparation:
1) Boil courgettes in water with salt. Also boil potatoes and carrots until cooked.
2) Cut off tip of courgettes and hollow.
3) Mix feta cheese with sweetcorn, potatoes, carrots and courgette pulp. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
4) Stuff courgettes with feta cheese mixture and cover with mozzarela.
5) Bake in the oven until mozzarela cheese melts and browns a little.

[JennieAtkinson]

I make stuffed courgettes, but can't remember where the recipe comes from now (apologies to the "chef"):

Boil two courgettes whole for about 4 mins
Cut in half lengthwise and scrape out the seedy bit and some courgette from the middle and pulp with a fork
Fry a chopped onion until soft and brown, add the courgette pulp, some chopped breadcrumbs, chopped herbs of your choice and plenty of freshly ground pepper and cook until it looks like a stuffing mix
Stir in a handful of strong cheddar cheese and stuff the courgettes
Place in a dish and cover courgettes with a mixture of breadcrumbs and cheese and bake until golden brown (about 180 in a fan oven for 15-20 mins)

Delicious with cold meat, left over potatoes but even more delicious with an onion sauce.

[Flummery]

Life's too short to stuff a courgette!

(Should use that for my signature!)

[October]

Thanks so much for all the wonderful recipes - I'm going to try them all out - even the stuffed ones - though I might save them for the Marrow. [I'm going to be in trouble when she comes back and sees that marrow!] Seriously, I really appreciate it that people would be willing to take time out to type up recipes for me. Thanks again.

[terrier]

Courgette salad:

Ingredients:

Courgettes, sliced thickly
Penne pasta, cooked al dente, set aside to cool
Fresh mint leaves / basil leaves (loads of them chopped together)
Olive oil
Four free-range hard-boiled eggs, cooled and quartered
Balsamic vinegar
Teaspoon of sugar
Freshly ground black pepper / sea salt
Feta cheese, crumbled

Method:

Flash fry the courgettes until lightly cooked and coloured.
Remove from pan with a slotted spoon and place in a serving dish.
Add the chopped mint and basil leaves.
Sitr well with the black pepper and a bit of sea salt
Splash with Balsamic vinegar.

Push the cooked penne pasta around the pan with the (still warm) olive oil.
Drain with the slotted spoon and add to the courgettes.
Allow to cool completely, then add the hard boiled eggs,
Check taste and if necessary add some more black pepper or Balsamic vin.
Lastly, add crumbled Feta cheese. (Okay, Cheddar will do if you haven't got any Feta.)

Seriously yummy with home-made walnut or seeded bread.

[JennieAtkinson]

[QUOTE=Flummery;124228]Life's too short to stuff a courgette!
QUOTE]

I wouldn't stuff a mushroom

[Alice]

Life's too short to stuff a courgette!

(Should use that for my signature!)

I'm usually right with you Flummery, but on this one I have to disagree. Life is short, and dear knows why we're here, but I reckon we just have to do the best we can in all departments (I think that makes me a Hindu, be the best you can be in all things is the basic tenet there, all else is the power driven add ons you get in all religions. Sorry folks, maybe just the way I feel tonight)
To get back to courgettes, if stuffing them makes them better for you and your family, life's not too short to do that - unless you live in a subsistence economy. I would say life's too short not to stuff a courgette - or a mushroom.

[Flummery]

Depends on how small you pick 'em Alice!

[wormlady]

Spicy courgette balls
500g courgettes
1 onion
1 green chilli
1tsp grated fresh ginger
2 tbsp corriander, chopped
salt
45g gram flour
oil

Grate the courgettes and put in a sieve, sprinkle with salt and leave to drain. Rinse & squeeze out as much water as possible.
Finely chop the onion and chilli and add to the courgette with the ginger and corriander.
Sift the gran flour over the mixture and stir in. (Gram flour is made from chickpeas and you can normally get it in the indian section of supermarkets or wholefood shops)
Form the mixture into golf-ball-sized balls and fry till golden brown.
Serve with yoghurty cucumber sauce.

This is from this months Organic gardening mag, havnt tried it yet as my courgettes are just starting to set fruit but I thought it sounded good!

[October]

Mmm, thanks Wormlady - I'll try that one too. I have all the recipes and ideas printed out - thanks again.

[25cowlane]

Dinner tonight:

2 largish courgettes put through the julian/french fry cutter on the magi mix
4 cloves of garlic chopped
handful of asparagus peas
handful of peas
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon peanut oil
a little chopped mint
a little chopped basil


Chucked all together in a frying pan whilst a pan of pasta cooked then tossed it all together covered in lashings of smelly sock cheese :-)