The Art of Courgette

Last year we were over-run by courgettes, aka zucchini. My seeds had got mixed up and my squash turned out to be courgette. I gave away as many plants as I could, but still ended up with 10, which is way too much – these plants are super-generous and really easy to grow. four or five is enough for us and the chickens – they like it grated. I hate to throw plants away and when they started fruiting, I had to see it as an opportunity to get creative, so this post is about dealing with the courgette glut – a problem of abundance for many gardeners.

Several years ago, I found some Italian heritage courgette seeds and I’ve been growing them from seed every year since then. They are stripy, with a firm slightly yellow flesh, not as watery as the dark green variety, with a superior flavour and much more versatile.

I discovered zoodles. A dirt cheap spiralizer makes these spirals, which are then dried in a dehydrator and eaten as an alternative to spaghetti. I’m not big on healthy alternatives, which I don’t usually find to be that tasty, but these turned out to be better than pasta. I tried drying them outside, but it’s a bit too humid here, so a dehydrator for about 4 hours is best. To use, rehydrate them with boiling water for about five minutes 8no longer or they go too soggy) and then pile on the sauce. Dehydrated slices work really well for a lasagne type dish too.

They will keep for several weeks in an airtight jar.

Diagonally sliced courgette, grilled on a BBQ and then dressed with salt, olive oil, chopped fresh mint and chilli, or pimienton picante (hot Spanish paprika) are excellent – especially with halloumi. These can also be stored in a jar, for adding to early spring salads. We’ve just finished our last jar.

Then I discovered courgette and manchego fritters. These don’t look like much, but they are so incredibly savoury and more-ish, that they became a favourite. They can also be frozen. I’m not much on writing up recipes and I don’t weigh or measure anything, as I enjoy the process of ‘cooking with intuition’.

The fritters are made with two coursely grated courgettes, and equal amount in size of grated manchego, a hard and salty Spanish sheep-milk cheese, half a finely-chopped onion, one egg, about four soup-spoons of flour and four sprigs of fresh chopped rosemary – salt and pepper to taste. The most important thing is to squeeze the moisture out of the courgette and then let them drain for about 20 minutes before mixing them with the other ingredients. If you miss this step, the fritters will be soggy and we like them crisp, as you can see. (They really are so much better than they look)

And finally, courgette and white bean penne. Julienned courgette, fried in olive il for just a few minutes so it doesn’t brown, add pre-cooked white beans, with or without tomato sauce, spicy and sweet paprika, parmesan and fresh basil to serve. A bit of crispy fried pancetta or bacon works well here too.