Courgette watch!

[usernamealreadytaken]

I've been struggling to find courgettes locally, and thought it was just a local supply issue. Turns out there is apparently a national courgette shortage. So, stealth boast time - are courgettes plentiful where you are and will you post to Gtr Manchester

Noooooo! I love courgette

Fine by me, I hate the nasty, watery, tasteless things, you lot can have my share.. < selfless>

Ahh! So that's why my local Tesco was out of them.

Hobbit - the trick to making them tasty is to cut out the middle - the watery tasteless bit - fry in butter and garlic for a very short time - super tasty.

Loads of packs in tesco near me. East midlands area.

Thank you, rogue my love, I'm sure frying anything in butter and garlic makes it tastier by far, I'm still not a fan though

I am further north, we are having a national cucumber shortage.

Gah, that's halved the vege menu in the only place in my one horse town where the chef has recently realised we/they exist. (We, being vegetarians and they, being courgettes!)

Loads in Italy. Price per kg has gone up slightly... But we still have seasonal fruit veg here where I am ( no strawberries all year round ). So fluctuations in price are normal. Its a staple on our menu here as well as it hides in many dishes.

Can you wait until August? I'm hoping to have a good crop of yellow ones like I did last year.

Crap. Forgot to look for courgettes in Morrisons last night. We went on Monday and they had very little at all in the way of fresh veg and no lettuce, tomatoes or courgettes at all. Veg section was about 80% empty space.

Last night was better, managed to get everything we needed (apart from the forgotten Courgettes) including some crap tomatoes and broccoli, which was normally priced (l had heard it was being sold for stupid money) but was being rationed to three packs per person which I would have thought was more than enough for anybody.

Ah, that's interesting, I was just wondering about this!

None in my Tesco, also a lack of aubergines, spinach and any sort of lettuce lately.

Still no courgettes in my local shops :( I have a courgette craving too (weirdo)!

There are courgettes in my local Asda but they are rationing them to customers, also there is apparently a broccoli, spinach and tomato shortage (though not seen any shortage signs yet). Luckily we have brocolli growing in the garden, don't really eat courgettes that much.

glad i saw this thread... thought I was going mad today when there was not a single one in Morrisons, Tesco or even my local farm shop.

My favourite courgette recipe is:

-slowly fry off onion/shallots in butter and black pepper, thyme and sage
-add carrots sliced into stick shapes, then
-green beans
-Salted courgettes, left on kitchen paper to absorb excess water
-stir around a bit
-put in a pre- heatened baking dish thingy, like a le Creuset.
-add warmed, full fat cream cheese diluted with double cream
-top with panko breadcrumbs or a smashed up packet of crisps, with a good strong cheese mixed in.
-pop under grill until topping deliciously golden brown and bubbling.
-serve with proper baguettes and delicious baby tomato salad.

-BUT, listen to The James Taylor Quartet whilst doing all of the above. I hate jazz, but for some reason JTQ bring it all together.

*Forgot the mushrooms. Slice and, roast with a little salt (to remove moisture), then stirred into the rest of the veg before cheesy cream/crispy topping etc.

That does sound lovely Rubbish. I use them to pad out lots of recipes, but I needed them for my veggie lentil casserole. My lovely boss found me some in her local Lidl, so my casserole was just delayed, not cancelled

username, I actually made a mix-tape entitled, "Tunes for making vegetarian lasagne to, if you really want to". Catchy.

I now eat meat. Not very often though.

Loads in LIDL

How well do they freeze?

I'm not sure if I should do a Lidl panic buy trip

They do not freeze well at all. Only way to freeze is if you cut them first or cook them.
I think you can buy roast courgette frozen at some supermarkets....

Cucumbers seem to have shot up in price. I paid £1.45 for one in the village greengrocers yesterday and they're normally about 90p.

plenty in our local Waitrose last night but I can't get organic mini chicken fillets for love nor money.

My DP was happy when we could notfind any today he isn't keen but i needed them , of course just resigned myself to other veg he diskikes even more!

That's so strange. I had wondered why I couldn't find them. Thought I wasn't looking properly!