WITH COURGETTES
Despite being a true vegetable à la mode, courgettes – a member of the cucurbit family – are in fact a botanical berry. With the rise of spiralizing, this versatile crop has fast become a favourite for those seeking a healthy carb replacement. But, with its sweet, tender flesh, the courgette also stands alone in many a summer dish – both savoury and sweet.
Thai coconut soup with spiralized courgettes Serves 2 1 tbsp coconut oil 1 red onion, finely cut 2 cloves of garlic, crushed 2cm of fresh ginger, minced 1 red chilli, finely sliced 2-3 tbsp Thai green curry paste 1 lime, juice and zest 200ml vegetable/fish stock 400ml coconut milk 2 courgettes, spiralized 1 tbsp fish sauce Fresh coriander to serve
1 Heat up the coconut oil in a deep
pan, and sauté the red onion, garlic, ginger and chilli until they’re soft. Add in the green curry paste and lime zest and juice, and let it all cook together for a few more minutes. 2 Pour in the stock and coconut milk and bring it up to a simmer for 10 minutes, adding in the spiralized courgette for the final 5 minutes. Season well, and add in the fish sauce to taste. Serve with fresh coriander. 112
Courgette and lime drizzle cake Serves 8-10 For the cake 95ml melted coconut oil 2 large organic and free-range eggs 85g soft dark brown sugar 350g courgette, grated 1 lime, juice 300g plain flour ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda ½ tsp baking powder 3 limes, zest Drizzle 3 limes, juice Zest of 1 lime 40g caster sugar
1 Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/
gas mark 4. Grease and line a 2lb loaf tin with coconut oil. Whisk together the eggs, coconut oil and sugar, before stirring in the courgette and lime juice. 2 In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients and lime zest. Gradually stir the dry ingredients into the wet mixture, combining well. 3 Pour the mixture into your prepared loaf tin and bake for an hour and a half or until a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the middle of the cake. 4 While the cake is baking, make the drizzle. Stir together the juice of 3 limes and the zest of one with the sugar until it dissolves. When the cake is out of the oven, prick all over with a skewer or fork and pour the drizzle over. Leave it to cool in the tin.
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Baked Parmesan courgette chips
Courgette, leek and Gruyère tart
Serves 2-4 4 courgettes Fresh thyme or rosemary, finely chopped 1 organic egg 60g instant polenta 60g Parmesan, finely grated Sea salt and cracked back pepper Serve with our pea, mint and yoghurt dip (page 57)
Serves 4-6 2 tbsp olive oil 1 leek, thinly sliced 2 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped 2 courgettes, thinly sliced Handful of plain flour 320g pack ready-rolled puff pastry 3 tbsp chilli jam 100g Gruyère cheese ½ lemon zest
1 Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/
1 Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas
gas mark 6 and line a baking tray with parchment. 2 Trim the top and bottom of the courgettes and cut them in half widthways, then slice lengthways into 1cm fingers. 3 Beat the egg in a bowl, and in another bowl mix together the herbs, polenta and Parmesan cheese. Dip each courgette finger into the egg, then the polenta and Parmesan crumb mix. Arrange the courgette chips on the baking tray and pop in the oven for 15 minutes until golden and crispy.
mark 6. Heat up 1 tbsp of olive oil in a pan and sauté the leeks and garlic until soft, then set to one side. Add more olive oil into the pan and lightly sauté the courgettes for around 4 minutes until they have started to soften. 2 On a lightly floured surface, evenly roll out the puff pastry until it’s the thickness of a pound coin. Line a baking tray with parchment, carefully place the pastry on to it and score a 1cm border around the edges. Place in the oven for 10 minutes. 3 Spread the chilli jam over the part-cooked pastry (avoiding the border). Spoon the leeks and garlic on top, and then carefully arrange the courgette slices on top of the pastry. Grate over the Gruyère cheese and lemon zest. Bake in the oven for a further 25-30 minutes until the pastry is golden.
Courgette, leek and Gruyère tart
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Griddled courgette slices with garlic, lemon, parsley and chilli marinade, with feta and crushed, toasted almonds Serves 4 100g almonds 1 red chilli, thinly sliced 3 cloves garlic, crushed 3 tbsp olive oil 1 lemon, zest and juice 4 courgettes 100g feta Large handful of fresh parsley
1 Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/ gas mark 6 and toast the almonds for 5 minutes. Crush the toasted almonds up with the back of a knife and place them to one side.
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2 Add the chilli and garlic into a
bowl with the olive oil and lemon juice and zest. Slice the courgettes lengthways into ½cm slices and toss them in the olive oil, chilli, lemon and garlic. Let the courgettes marinade in the bowl for at least an hour in the fridge. 3 Heat up a griddle pan and griddle in batches for approx 3 minutes on each side until they are charred and tender. Pile the courgettes onto a big platter and drizzle the rest of the marinade, crushed almonds and feta over. Garnish with parsley.