Oh crud! my gatden is over run with courgettes! i need some nice recipies

[Charlee]

I planted 4 courgette plants and now im over run with the buggers, they seem to literally double in size every night and now i have about 20 and more are growing!

Apart from roasting them or making a rattatouli (sp?) i have no idea what to do witht them i have been giving them away by the bag full but i dont want to waste any.

Please share your courgette dishes and save a courgettes life today

grate them with some potato and chopped mushrooms (squeeze the water out after grating) and bung in some peas or whatever you have handy, eg leeks, onions. Then add and egg and make into cakes and fry (coat with flour first)

Will be watching this with interest as a friend has just given us the largest courgette I've ever seen (TBH I thought it was a marrow until he told me otherwise)

cut them lengthways and barbecue?

similar to cds, but I cook potatoes, slice them, fry onions and layer the pots over the top, then add grated corgette, then add 6 whisked eggs, half tub ricotta, lots of grated cheese, lemon zest, rosemary, salt, pepper, garlic and leave the whole lot over a low heat for twenty minutes or so, then finish under a grill til egg is set then turn the whole lot out and cut into wedges.

oh I forgot grate some cheese in too

slice lengthways quite thinly and fry in hot oil with strips of red pepper. Cool, add loads of coriander, chopperd tomatoes and garlic.
Heaven!

slice open like a book and stuff with cheese, i like goats cheese and walnuts or roquefort but but you could use any. fold back together, brush with oil, wrap in foli and bake on coals of bbq for about 20 mins or you could bung them in the oven.

All sounds good keep em coming..........

Also does anyone know if i can freeze them for later in the yr?

Dont tend to freeze well due to water content but you can bottle them quite successfully or chutney them.

they make a really nice soup whizzed with softened onions, good stock and lots of herbs (dill is good)

i make a dead simple fritata with sliced courgettes, brown breadcrumbs and feta.

or broil them with lemon juice and chuck a ton of parmesan on top

My mum always did a really simple dish with them.
Slice them and fry for a few mins with mushrooms and onions and make a tomato sauce to go over it serve with pasta and sprinkle grated cheese on the top.

I've seen that Hugh-Fearnly whatsisface cook the flowers too. Covered in batter and fried. Looked nice.

Courgette pie:

Grate a pound of courgettes, put in a colander to drain for about 10 mins. Squeeze dry.
Combine courgettes with 3 oz Parmesan and 3oz mozzarella, 2 beaten eggs, 2-3 tanlespoons pesto, 2-3 crushed garlic cloves, 1 teaspoon mint and salt and pepper.
Spoon into a baking dish (9inch square roughly)
Cover with puff pastry.
Brush with beaten egg.
Bake in oven 200 c / gas 6 for 20 mins or so
Serve with salad / new pots
V V V Nice but your breath will smell garlicy for a while

Or

Bake in oven with tomatoes, red onion, garlic, olives, capers, oil, basil

pick off flowers, take out pistils and cut into strips

add to simple tomato sauce amde with garlic a bit of chili, fresh seeded chopped toms

cook for afew mins

delish with pasta

nigella does a courgette cake in her baking book

similar to courgette frittatta, I made some courgette fritters the other day which used about 4 grated courgettes, 2 eggs, some cheese, spring onions, lemon juice, and bread crumbs from half a slice of bread. mix together and fry about 2 tablespoons of the mixture per fritter.

Another one, courgette gratin, slice courgettes, and slice some tomatoes. Fry courgettes with garlic, onions and butter. Make white sauce. Put a layer of courgette mixture in oven dish, then layer it with tomatoes then finish off with a layer of courgettes. Top with white sauce, followed by bread crumbs and grated cheese. Shove it in the oven for about 25 minutes on gas mark 5 then it should be done.

I do a Jamie Oliverish recipe he calls smashed courgette paste, but I don't add the lemon juice.

4 medium sized courgettes roughly chopped.
Put in with a heavy based pan with tight fitting lid and some olive oil.
Add finely chopped/minced garlic to taste, I add 3 as I love garlic and some dried chilli flakes (about a teaspoon) and put the lid on.
Keep shaking the pan and keep the cougettes moving.
Keep the lid on to keep them to moist.
After about 30 mins you should be able to mash them so a paste.
Add more olive oil if you want it to be less thick.

I love this stirred into pasta and with cheese.

Lemon Courgette Cake . It's quite light, really tasty. Does not taste of courgette.

I think you can grate courgette and freeze it, and then use it for whatever.

Also, suzywong gave me this one:

• start boiling water for pasta
• grate some courgette, add lemon juice, leave while:
• fry pancetta
• add courgette to pancetta etc, fry a tiny bit.
• drain pasta, add courgette/pancetta and also some cream cheese or mascarpone. Very tasty.

PMSL - reminds me of my mum a couple of years ago - had three courgette plants and she and my dad were eating nothing but courgettes for months!

Stuffed courgettes is good - cut in half lengthways, scoop out the the flesh, chop/mush up, with onions, mushrooms, garlic... whatever takes your fancy really. put mixture back in courgettes, cover in cheese and bake for half an hour or so, depending on how soft you want them. yum yum!

Another one is courgette quiche:
half pound (225g) courgettes
1 oz (25g) butter
2 oz (50g) grated cheese
1 small onion, finely sliced
2 large eggs
half pint (275 ml) cream (or slightly less milk)
salt & pepper
shortcrust pastry - pack of jus-rol is perfect!

Pre-heat oven to gas mark 4 (170oC, 350oF) roll out pastry, and line an 8 inch (20cm) tin with it, then prick it with fork all over. Bake pastry on its own for 15 mins. while that's doing, lightly fry onion and courgettes in butter until soft but not too brown. In seperate bowl beat eggs, then add cream/milk and salt & pepper to taste. When pastry has baked for 15 mins, paint it all over the inside with some of the egg mixture then bake for further 5 mins. According to Delia this "sets" the pastry and means you don't get soggy quiche. Once pastry is done add courgettes and onions, sprinkle cheese over, pour on egg mixture and bake for 30-40 mins, until filling has gone puffy and golden brown.
sounds like a faff with all the pre-baking, but I've done this with courgettes from my garden, and cherry tomatoes instead of onions and it was bloomin' lovely!

Courgette slice

500g courgette grated
1 large onion diced
2 rashers bacon meat chopped
2 whole eggs
4 egg whites ( I just used the frozen ones - 1 pkt and about 1/3
1/2 cup low fat grated cheese
1cup SR Flour
pinch cayenne pepper
1/4 cup water

preheat oven to 180 degrees
combine ingredients in a bowl
spoon into retangular baking dish
cook for 40minutes.

OR

Courgette and creamed corn cakes

250g courgette - grated and squeezed
2 green shallots ends trimmed thinly sliced
125g can creamed corn
1 egg lightly beaten
1/2 cup plain flour
1/3 cup SL cream ( for dipping)

put ingredients in bowl and mix.
heat fry pan over medium heat
drop 2 tsp quantites of mixture in a fry pan ( I use non stick and just spray it)

cook 3 mins each side or until golden.

serve with sl cream for dipping.

hugh fearnley whittingstall has a lovely recipe for glutney (aka chutney) which has heaps of courgettes (or whatever) and green tomatoes in it....

take pistels out of flowers - stuff with motzarella and deep fry in a yeast batter.

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Lucky you!

Courgette Kiev.

Slick courgettes in half lengthwise. Scrape out some of the middle of each half. Fill with garlic & herb butter. Join courgettes back together with toothpicks. Deep fry. (I think you can probably batter the courgette as well, or coat in egg, flour and breadcrumbs).

dice them, better when they are small. Fry them in olive oil and salt and pepper.

Half them and grill them will breadcrums garlic and salt and pepper.

Make a batter mix and dip the flowers in the mix, then fry to make tampura.

Mine froze brilliantly but had to use them in pasta and cooked things.

Oh before I forget when they are very small they are nice sliced in salad.