Courgettes Galore!

With limited growing space (and time to devote to nurturing growing veg this year having taken on our new house), we went a little overboard on the courgette plants in the garden, we have nine to be precise. I'd like to stay I naively planted nine not knowing what I'd let myself in for, but truth be told, I knew we'd end up with loads! Having for the past five years had a satisfying chest freezer full of home-grown produce from our previous garden and allotment, this year is a little shock to the system, and the glut of courgettes is some small consulation!

I've made some lovely recipes recently though, and thought I'd post them up for anyone else who has hundreds of courgettes taking over their kitchen at the moment!

1. Courgettes fried in Beer (a great starter)

• Slice the courgettes thinly.
• Make a batter by adding water to flour, while whisking. Once smooth, add in 1/4 can of beer, continuing to whisk. The batter will froth.
• Dip the courgettes in the batter, and fry in a little hot oil until soft.  

2. Grilled courgettes with mozzarella

• Slice the courgettes lengthways into 1/4 inch strips
• Coat in olive oil
• Grill for 8-10 minutes on a medium grill, turning halfway, until soft
• Whilst grilling, arrange sliced mozzarella in a circle around the outside of a plate
• Place some olives and any other salad veg in the centre of the plate
• Drizzle the cooked courgettes in a little more olive oil and some balsamic vinegar and black pepper
• Arrange the courgettes inbetween the mozarella slices and serve

3. Courgette, leek and pea slow-cooked soup

I made this the other day by just chucking all our leftover veg from the fridge into the slowcooker, the results were impressive!

• Slice 3 courgettes and 2 leeks - put in slow cooker
• I shelled a bag of peas (took ages!) and added them too, you could use frozen peas instead
• Sprinkle a vegetable stock cube over the veg, and add boiling water to the slow cooker to give a good covering to the veg
• Put the slow cooker on auto (if you have the setting) or otherwise high for an hour, then switch to low
• I cooked for 4 hours
• Once cook, use a hand blender to blend into a smooth soup
• Add a good-size wedge of grated parmigiano cheese (approx 50g)
• Serve with crusty bread

4. Chocolate courgette brownies 

These were delicious! Taken from www.rivercottage.net

• Ingredients:
• 125ml vegetable oil
• 300g caster sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 250g plain flour
• 40g best quality cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 250g grated courgette

Preheat the oven to 180C/ Gas 4. Grease and flour a 22x33cm baking tin. In a large bowl miz together the oil, sugar and 2 teaspoons of vanilla until well blended. Combine the flour, 40g cocoa, bicarb and salt: stir into the sugar mixture. Fold in the courgettes. Spread evenly into the prepared tin. bake for 25 - 30 minutes until brownies spring back when gently touched. 

So there you have it - a few of my recent recipes for anyone who's in need of a little courgette inspiration!