How do you cook courgettes?

homemadecider

I really like courgettes, but always find myself limited in how to prepare them. I either do (a) ratatouille or (b) refried beans with chopped courgettes through them. If I'm going to a BBQ I'll bring sliced courgette as I love eating them that way, but we don't have a BBQ so that's not an everyday thing.

I'd love to eat them more often - any suggestions for other ways of preparing/ cooking/ eating them?

Outkast_IRE

Sliced lengthways into long slices put in the oven , brush with a little olive oil on both sides little bit of seasoning on them , bang them in the oven cook until your happy with their softness.

shrapnel222

here's one we do quite often.

You'll need onions, courgettes, sausage meat and grated gruyere, emmental or comté.

peel one out of every 2 sides of the courgette so you have alternating dark green, light green bands. (reason behind this is to leave a certain rigidity to the courgette for when you cook it and empty it)

cut your courgette in half length ways (obviously cut off the tough end bit)

hollow your courgette by removing as much flesh as you can, leaving a 1 to 3 mm shell if you like (this takes a bit of practice to get right withouth tearing or breaking the shell).

chop your onions and saute them in a pan, add the courgette flesh and cook away until it's cooked and quite mushy (throw away any excess water that develops. add your sausage meat and cook through.

Once your mixture is ready, season well with salt and pepper and replace it in the courgette shells. Place them in the oven for 15-20 minutes iirc at 160-180(basically until the sheel is cooked enough), then put some grated cheese on top and place under the grill until golden.

simple and very tasty.

GastroBoy

Nigel Slater has a few cracking recipes for courgettes

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/jul/23/roast-courgette-recipe-nigel-slater

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2009/aug/16/nigel-slater-courgette

The first one in particular is amazing!!

the beer revolu

Outkast_IRE wrote: »

Sliced lengthways into long slices put in the oven , brush with a little olive oil on both sides little bit of seasoning on them , bang them in the oven cook until your happy with their softness.

This, except I put the thin slices under a hot grill or on the gas bbq.
You need to slice the courgette into about 4 or 5 slices - pretty thin.
I do aubergines the same way.

Tom Dunne

I would do them in the oven with red onion, peppers, a small drizzle of mixed herbs and olive oil.

MiskyBoyy

My vegetarian fiancée makes a savage lasagne with quorn mince and courgettes. Maybe you could try something like that?

Pistachios & cream

i used to stuff them, i'd cut them in half lengthways and scoop out the centre to make a boat shape. drizzle with oil and pop in oven for 10-15 mins.
id then chop up the centre bit and mix with whatever i had on hand to make a stuffing. sometimes bacon, breadcrumbs cheese, cherry tomatoes, anything really. Once the courgette boats were softened i'd stuff them and finish cooking in the oven.

Just thinking you could definitely do this with chilli too, definitely going to try that soon.

April O Neill

I had marinated courgettes in a restaurant before - they were lovely.

Ribbons of courgettes, marinated and then grilled on a grill pan, I think, as they had char marks.

I'm not sure what was in the marinade - balsamic vinegar, definitely - but I'm sure there are recipes online.

I'm not a huge fan of courgettes, but loved them this way! Would also be good for aubergines, I reckon, and I just don't "get" aubergine in general.

all_smilz

I also do ribbons of courgette instead of pasta. Its lovely. Use a veg peeler- sprinkle with salt and cover in damp kitchen paper. After ten minutes you can rinse and put into simmering water for about 2-3 mins.
LOW carb too!

acermaple

This recipe was on Come dine with me a while back and was v popular, I have made it a few times and it is pretty good (but beware fairly filling:D).http://www.channel4.com/4food/recipes/tv-show/come-dine-with-me-recipes/series-11/courgette-and-parmesan-soup-recipe

bluecherry74

Depending on the size of the courgettes, chop or slice into 1/2 inch pieces and place in a casserole dish. Add some chopped spring onion, garlic, salt and pepper. Sprinkle over grated cheddar and cook for 25-30 mins at around gas 6. I had this last night and it was delicious.

bluecherry74

Also this dish is fantastic - I've made it so many times:

Linda McCartney Layered Greek Pasta Bake
http://alifelesssweet.blogspot.ie/2010/03/meatless-monday-layered-greek-pasta.html

Pang

I've used courgettes to make vegetable lasagna where instead of using lasagne sheets, I have used courgettes and aubergines.

I found this website on Pinterest which is great for getting new ideas. It has 25 recipes for cooking courgettes or zucchini as they say Stateside!

http://www.closetcooking.com/2013/07/25-zucchini-recipes.html