Uses for courgettes?

[fiendish]

I'm ignoring the filth.

We quite often roast them with other veg (onions, peppers, fennel, beetroot, aubergine - I know), loads of whole cloves of garlic and either harissa paste or herbs.  The harissa ones go with couscous and chickpeas, the herby ones with feta and pittas.

They're also a pretty good addition to pickles and chutneys - piccalilli and so on.

[RainOrShine]

Dildo?

I realised after I'd hit "post" that the subject line was open to misinterpretation by those so inclined.     Would you like me to post you one?  They're rather large, as courgettes go

Thanks for lots of great ideas though, I particularly like ChrisN's very simple pasta idea and the courgette cake sounds intriguing too.

In response to nutty and tiermat, I don't dislike them but I think courgettes are basically a bit dull so they need something to add a bit of flavour to them.

[Charlotte]

Dildo?

*hands Kirst a little medal for being Smutmeister of the week*

[Wowbagger]

Well, frankly, I'm appalled.
































Edit: 

[Gattopardo]

Dildo?

Too late

[rafletcher]

Back on track a bit 

As an ingredient in "ratatouille".  Slice about 5mm thick (rounds) and fry both sides until well browned. Fry a couple of sliced onions, add a couple of cloves of sliced garlic, tip back the courgettes, add tinned toms to taste and some sprigs of fresh rosemary, simmer for half an hour.  You can also add red/yellow pepper slices to the onion phase. I use a lidded saute pan to cook this.  Makes a good accompaniament to proper grilled pork sausages.

Or one I tried last night - slice in half lengthways and put in a roasting tin, toss with olive oil, pepper, finely chopped garlic. Arrange cut face up, sprinkle generously with crumbled Feta chees and dried oregano, drizzle with a bit more oil and roast at 180C for about 30-40 mins.  We served it with a green salad.

[Eccentrica Gallumbits]

*hands Kirst a little medal for being Smutmeister of the week*

And it's only Wednesday! I don't think I've ever been so proud.

[Valiant]

Mush it up with some chick peas, lemon, tiddy bit of ginger, a bit of chilli and voila loverly humous

Or slice it up, dust it in chilli powder and chuck it on the grill. Yummy.

[goatpebble]

Slice courgettes lengthwise, 5mm thick, and dip into a light beer batter, and deep fry until crisp, and softly golden. Don't over cook. Think of the translucent lace of gold, and the green of the courgette.

Serve with drained sheep milk yoghurt, seasoned, and flavoured with fresh dill and a little garlic.

[rafletcher]

Slice courgettes lengthwise, 5mm thick, and dip into a light beer batter, and deep fry until crisp, and softly golden. Don't over cook. Think of the translucent lace of gold, and the green of the courgette.

Serve with drained sheep milk yoghurt, seasoned, and flavoured with fresh dill and a little garlic.

A similar dish was had in Greece (well on the island of kalymnos) of hot crisp fried aubergine slices and garlic "sauce". Fantastic.

[Che]

Aubergine parmigiana 

Make a well reduced tomato sauce with garlic, olive oil, passata and basil. Heat oil, fry garlic slowly with salt, add passata an basil. If you want to use oregano, do so sparingly. Flavours here are more delicate than a beef ragu or bolognese. Slice aubergines very thingly. Salt. Leave for 10 mins and dab dry. Flour them. Heat that mysterious substance "oil for frying", and deep fry the aubergines a few at a time. Lard is an incomparable choice if you're not a veggie. You could render some Italian lardo if you really wanted. Soak off the excess fat.

Layers of sauce, aubergine, good mozarella and good parmigianna reggiana. Bake until the cheese is melted, and it's in no danger of being watery. Unlikely to want any additional seasoning by this point.

Feel guilty and go running.

[Nienke]

... or cycling.

[goatpebble]

Slice courgettes lengthwise, 5mm thick, and dip into a light beer batter, and deep fry until crisp, and softly golden. Don't over cook. Think of the translucent lace of gold, and the green of the courgette.

Serve with drained sheep milk yoghurt, seasoned, and flavoured with fresh dill and a little garlic.

A similar dish was had in Greece (well on the island of kalymnos) of hot crisp fried aubergine slices and garlic "sauce". Fantastic.

I love fried aubergine, but courgettes seem so much more lighter and elegant. As you realised, the recipe is Greek. It's one of those very simple dishes that can be magical, or impossibly disgusting, depending on the skills of the cook, and the quality of the ingredients.

The garlic sauce was probably skordalia (σκορδαλιά). It's very good with any fried stuff, especially simple things like marides. The recipes vary. Some use white bread, others potato, even more interesting is the light and sophisticated version using ground almonds.

I have a small book of recipes from Kalymnos. It's not in English. It includes some oddities. When I unpack, I will post some recipes. I will have to do some serious work on my vocabulary though!

[Fixedwheelnut]

Back on track a bit 

As an ingredient in "ratatouille".  Slice about 5mm thick (rounds) and fry both sides until well browned. Fry a couple of sliced onions, add a couple of cloves of sliced garlic, tip back the courgettes, add tinned toms to taste and some sprigs of fresh rosemary, simmer for half an hour.  You can also add red/yellow pepper slices to the onion phase. I use a lidded saute pan to cook this.  Makes a good accompaniament to proper grilled pork sausages.

.

 I'm with Rafletcher good old Ratatouille served with Pasta and or any other meal of the week as a side order.
 Also with other roast vegetables cover in olive oil garlic and herbs of choice and roast 

[rafletcher]

.

The garlic sauce was probably skordalia (σκορδαλιά). It's very good with any fried stuff, especially simple things like marides. The recipes vary. Some use white bread, others potato, even more interesting is the light and sophisticated version using ground almonds.

I have a small book of recipes from Kalymnos. It's not in English. It includes some oddities. When I unpack, I will post some recipes. I will have to do some serious work on my vocabulary though!

Indeed the version we had was with breadcrumbs, and I too have a small cookbook from Kalymnos (well from one of the shops near Myrties anyway)

I really must get around to trying Stifado for myself, it's one of my favourites.

And this year we return to western Crete, and the house we are renting is a fair distance from the nearest taverna (up in the foothills of the White Mountains) but the original owners (who live nearby in their modern equivalent!) offer to provide meals, now that should be interesting!

On our last visit to the area we went to restaurant, and the "menu" was translated (well it didn't exist really) as "It's like your mothers, you eat what they've cooked".  Always a good adventure.

[Nienke]

I made the cake last night. It's great! Really nice and fluffy. The amounts in the recipe didn't quite fit in my tin, so I had to make some cup cakes too, which worked really well.

 

[goatpebble]

.

The garlic sauce was probably skordalia (σκορδαλιά). It's very good with any fried stuff, especially simple things like marides. The recipes vary. Some use white bread, others potato, even more interesting is the light and sophisticated version using ground almonds.

I have a small book of recipes from Kalymnos. It's not in English. It includes some oddities. When I unpack, I will post some recipes. I will have to do some serious work on my vocabulary though!

Indeed the version we had was with breadcrumbs, and I too have a small cookbook from Kalymnos (well from one of the shops near Myrties anyway)

I really must get around to trying Stifado for myself, it's one of my favourites.

And this year we return to western Crete, and the house we are renting is a fair distance from the nearest taverna (up in the foothills of the White Mountains) but the original owners (who live nearby in their modern equivalent!) offer to provide meals, now that should be interesting!

On our last visit to the area we went to restaurant, and the "menu" was translated (well it didn't exist really) as "It's like your mothers, you eat what they've cooked".  Always a good adventure.

Next time you visit Kalymnos, stay at Emborios. Antonio Carluccio arrived as I was leaving. This was a not totally a surprise, as it is a quite primitive sort of place, by most people's standards (even on Kalymnos!) which would accord with his interests in traditional food.

[Si]

having a glut of them I decided to experiment with curgette curry, very nice it was too.  I just chopped them up in big lumps, ditto with potatoes, added to fried onion, bunged some peas in, added loads of finely shreaded swizz chard, fried for a bit in squirt oil and balsamic vinegar, added, curry powder, garam masarla, chili powder, and chopped corriander leaf, some sultanas, added can of chopped toms, cover and low head for an hour and serve with rice or cous cous

--

or as Ken Dodd said (don't blame me - I was only 7 at the time and forced to go along and see him by my parents - luckily I managed to phone the social services in the interval and was taken into care, much to my relief):
"What a gay day for shoving a marrow through your neighbour's letter box and shouting 'watch out here comes the incredible hulk'!"