What are your favourite recipes for using up cucumbers and courgettes?

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I ended up with more plants surviving that expected and now getting a glut of cucumbers and courgettes- what are your go to recipes for either meals or preserving/storing them?

Go and look at Clare Thomson/5 o’clock apron on instagram and her website. she loves courgettes and has loads of ideas.

I have made the error of keeping 2 courgette plants so now I am drowning in the buggers! This week I have made these - both good:
https://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/egg/spring-frittata/ - I only made the frittata not all the rest of the accompanying stuff. I didn't have truffle oil so went without, and I added ham to the mix
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/courgette-lemon-risotto I only had normal thyme so used that. I served as a side dish with chicken.

My cucumbers are just starting to arrive and I'm going to make this, which goes well with rice and spicy meat dishes https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/smacked-cucumber-pickles-0

Following your thread as I need ideas myself!

Ha Allypallywasp I have six plants. We had four last year and they didn't do much. This year is another story.

Spaghetti with fried courgettes, garlic and grated pecorino is our favourite.

Courgette and chickpea curry - there are lots of very similar recipes online.

Australian Women's Weekly Zucchini Slice - basically a crust less quiche

Courgette fritters - again lots online, we prefer a gram flour batter, not an egg and plain flour one.

Roast courgette and feta - roast the feta as a block surrounded by courgette chunks, all basted with olive oil and honey,

Obviously ratatouille, which freezes well

And in desperation I've sliced, roasted and frozen quite a few for winter lasagnes

My children can eat a cucumber a day so no advice there!

Greek food! Courgette fritters and Greek salad.

Chocolate courgette brownie - they freeze well too

I love tzatziki.

Top tip: Grate/slice the cucumber, place in a colander, generously salt and leave to let the moisture run out ahead of making the tzatziki. You won't get that separating in the finished product. Bear in mind you shouldn't need to add any more salt.

Pasta with courgettes, crème fraîche and bacon recipe | delicious. magazine
This is really simple but really delicious. I often don't add bacon and sometimes add salmon instead.

I love courgettes and grate them into anything I can: bolognaise, curries, stews, pasta bakes, you name it.

Yes to these, they are delicious! And for the cucumber, a G&T (although thats probably not very helpful!)

Pickle your cucumbers.

Slice finely and cover with salt in a bowl for 10-15mins

Rinse

Mix rice vinegar and sugar separately and pour over cucumbers

Leave in fridge for at least an hour

Enjoy the crunchy goodness.

My sister grates excess courgette and freezes it. Then adds it to pasta sauces, casseroles and soups etc throughout the winter months. It's useful to bulk things out.

I got a cucumber salad recipe from a gousto card that we use quite a bit. Peeled cucumber ribbons, thinly sliced radishes and a dressing of olive oil, a good squeeze of lime and a pinch of sugar. Very refreshing.

I neither like cucumber or radishes this somehow works. Cuts through spicy food well.

Courgette fritters are good too. And courgette bread rather than banana bread.

https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/zucchini-bread/ - this is as good as or better than banana bread, IMO.

https://smittenkitchen.com/2011/08/zucchini-fritters/ - make courgette fritters and eat for dinner with sour cream, smoked salmon and dill. You can do courgette only, or mix half half with potatoes and onions, beetroot, carrot, etc. These also freeze well if you have a lot of courgettes to use up and then you bake from frozen until they're crispy and defrosted through.

Another good one is cutting the courgettes in diagonal coins, griddling/bbqing them, laying out on a plate, dressing with olive oil/lemon/salt and then tearing a ball of burrata on top. Masses of fresh mint to finish. I can use up 3-4 courgettes this way for one ball of burrata.

https://www.riverford.co.uk/recipes/courgette-lentil-bake - this is a nice veggie main for days (not now, but maybe next week?) in the summer when it's grey and cool and you still have to use up those courgettes. Recipe is for 2 and uses 2 courgettes but doubles perfectly for a family.

Courgette bread is actually really nice. Although I still hold true the fact that it tastes nicer when you think of it as zucchini bread (my aunt in Canada conned me into eating it as a teenager as I didn't know what a zucchini was....) so I still think of it as that.

Easy baked courgette and feta risotto recipe

This cucumber salad is really really nice especially in the heat.

https://www.recipetineats.com/german-cucumber-salad/

I read a recipe by Sami Tamimi where he said the thing a lot of British people get wrong about courgettes is not salting them for half an hour first.

I followed the recipe - thinly slice the courgettes in lengths or rounds as you prefer. Salt them and leave them in a colander. Rinse slightly and pat dry. Toss with chopped herbs (I used dill, mint and parsley), finely chopped shallots or spring onions, a bit of lemon zest, and dress with lemon juice and olive oil.

It was a very simple courgette salad but the texture was much improved by the salting - it made them more silky and delicious.

Baby courgettes or thinly sliced regular courgettes are delicious in a tempura batter as a starter or snack.

This is a really lovely way to eat courgettes.
https://www.riverford.co.uk/recipes/harissa-hasselback-courgettes?srsltid=AfmBOoqs66hOmO4Q4L4U-fjfiZ0kYbD4_Mf63AQwNbsRV7XnHc7cZ7WS

I chop them up and bulk out pasta bakes with them. Courgettes, that is.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/bread_and_butter_pickle_37042 for the cucumbers. I use fresh dill (unchopped, one frond per jar) instead of seeds and lift it out when I open the jar.

I always do the salting thing with aubergines when making moussaka, a faff, but worth it, so I imagine it's the same with courgettes.

I too am dealing with a plethora of courgettes! We has this Courgette dal last night and it was delicious!

https://www.curlyscooking.co.uk/courgette-cake/

May I recommend slicing the cucumber and adding it to a child’s meal of chicken dippers and smiley faces?

works wonders for easing the guilt of a freezer dinner

🤣🤣

This is lovely -

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/crunchy-courgette-pickle