Courgette Recipes

SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL: THE CHARMING COURGETTE

COURGETTE WRAPS Courgettes make a refreshing alternative to a bread wrap, especially on a hot summers day.

Play around with your favourite wrap fillings and hey presto you have a gluten free tasty lunch packed. They are also great as a starter or part of a tapas meal.

Courgette,washed and sliced thinly ( veggie peelers or mandolins are great for this) Hummus Carrot, grated or julienned, Salad Leaves, herbs and edible flowers(optional) Thinly slice the courgette with either a peeler or on a mandolin. Lay them out slightly overlapping on a piece of cling film. Then put some hummus, cream cheese or pesto in thin lines across the overlapping slices, think of it like glue.

Then add your favorite fillings maybe some cheese, carrot, a few leaves, and perhaps some peppery edible flowers!

Carefully roll up using the cling fill to lift it.

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SPICY CRAB-COURGETTE FLOWERS The winner of master chef 2012, Shelina Permalloo, has a deliciously tasty recipe for courgettes and their flowers. It really is mouthwatering, simple and speedy to make.

100g/4oz fresh white crabmeat 1 red chilli, finely chopped 1 tsp white wine vinegar 1 tsp freshly chopped flat- leaf parsley 10 baby courgettes with flowers 1 tbsp olive oil 1- mix together the crab meat, chilli white wine vinegar, parsley and some seasoning. Carefully fill the courgette flowers with the mixture. Twist the top of each flower to make sure that no filling comes out when cooking. It is incredibly tempting to overfill them- but try not too.

2- Once you have stuffed all the flowers, heat the oil in a frying pan over a medium heat and add the courgettes. Cook on all sides for around 6-7 minutes- you will know when they are cooked as the flowers take on a dark orange colour and will be lightly browned on all sides. Don't overcook these as you want the courgette to still have some bite. Serve immediately.

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COURGETTE SPAGHETTI WITH PEAS, CRÈME FRAICHE AND PESTO (SERVES 2-3) Using Courgettes as spaghetti or noodles is a delicious gluten free alternative to pasta.

Don't worry if you don't have any fancy equipment, a simple julienne peeler or a standard grater will make tasty strips of courgette easily. As courgettes particularly like lemon and basil I have used them here, but feel free to use your favourite pasta sauce, roasted tomatoes are a particularly tasty combination! Although I fried the spaghetti for a couple of minutes, you can boil it in water for a couple of minutes instead.

Cut the ends off the courgette and If you are Using a mandoline slicer (vegetable peeler or julienne peeler) run the courgette on all four sides across the mandoline slicer on the 1/8″ julienne setting, slice the courgette until you reach the seeds in the middle and then stop (the seeds will cause the noodles to fall apart). If using a grater, push along the top of the grater, in long strokes to create long thin strips of courgette.

As courgettes are 90% water you may want to give them a squeeze with some kitchen paper or you can pop them in a colander with a sprinkling of salt,(although I have skipped this stage many a time and I did not notice a huge difference) Heat a frying pan with the oil, then gently fry the courgette with the garlic until slightly tender. Stir in the pesto, crème fraîche (or whatever creamy ingredient you're using) and the peas. Stir until coated, season with salt and pepper, then take off the heat. Add a squeeze or so of lemon juice and a sprinkling of chopped basil.

Pile it into a dish and grate over some lemon zest and Parmesan.

INGREDIENTS 2 courgettes washed 1 tsp oil 2 cloves of garlic 4 tsp of your favorite pesto 2 tbsp crème fraiche, cream cheese a couple of handful of peas salt and pepper 1 lemon- juice and zest a small handful of chopped basil A sprinkling of Parmesan cheese

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