On The Side #7 | Courgettes
4 more ways to enjoy courgettes (zucchini)
A change of heart
I doubt I am the only cookbook writer to nervously re-open my own books, wondering whether the passing of time and accumulation of experience will make me cringe when reading the recipes.
A fair chunk of my first book was written back in 2015. So there were four or five years of relatively regular recipe writing before that …. but, well, nearly a decade and well over a thousand recipes since.
As it happens, I do actually look at and use On The Side fairly often. And although the covers are parted tentatively, it stands-up pretty well.
Yet one comment/position in the book lives in my head rent free. Because it’s wrong.
Specifically, I write that courgettes* are only worthwhile if they’re raw, or burnt (and still with bite) … then go on to offer recipes for a courgette and edamame salad, and charred chunks of courgette dressed with soy sauce, mint, lime and a few other bits and pieces.
Until that point, the raw salads I’d eaten had largely involved ribbons of courgettes left to soften among salt, lemon, and basil or mint; it’s a classic. The charred were probably similarly dressed, sometimes with a hint of spice, maybe over a cooling puddle of yoghurt or tahini. And both of these seemed to me to be infinitely more exciting than bland, watery, soft courgettes..
Hard to believe that I had somehow not then succumbed to the pleasure of soft, oily, luscious braised/fried/confit-style courgettes. Or that I seemed oblivious to the way in which warm and soft courgettes can soak up, carry and pass on bold flavours and seasonings. Let alone that courgettes are central to so many global cuisines … and rarely raw or burnt. I’d ignored deep-fried courgettes (fries/tempura/fritti) for goodness sake!
Well, I know differently now. So am amending the record.
*zucchini / summer squash
More than two ways
The good thing about courgettes as side dishes — in all forms — is that they’re extremely compliant and adaptable to a multitude of scenarios. Broadly speaking, the suitability of the style you choose is more about your mindset at the time (do you want something crunchy or soft? Charred and toothsome, sunken and soft, or fresh and slippery?), and the way in which you season and dress the courgettes to suit or shape the meal.
Courgettes are great carriers of flavour, equally appreciative of European, Middle.Eastern, Central American and South and South East Asian seasonings, spices and garnishes.
I’ve offered an eclectic set below, and on another day could (would) have done the ribboned salad with a lemon and basil dressing thing, and/or the charred option might involve za’atar, sumac, chilli flakes and yoghurt or whipped tahini. Indeed, there are loads of ideas of courgettes out there, not least here in my archive of recipes and posts — see, for e.g. this recipe for snake cut courgettes paired with lamb skewers, and the grated courgettes in nutmeg and pepper yoghurt side here. Just be sure to embrace them all.
A quartet of ideas for you, then:
The mushy sticky one — Braised courgettes with soft herbs and fennel seeds
The luscious baked one — Courgette, thyme and tomato tian
The burnt one — Charred courgettes over gochujang mayo
The raw one — Courgette and edamame salad
Each of these recipes are detailed below, and include suggestions as to what you might serve them with and alongside.
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The Recipes
The mushy sticky one
Braised courgettes with soft herbs and fennel seeds
Given at one point I thought I didn’t enjoy courgettes at all, and then for a short while only if they were effectively raw or burnt but still with bite, it’s remarkable how frequently I cook and eat this style of courgette.
Or maybe not, given how flavourful and pleasingly glossy they can be. Also: how well-suited they are as a side dish to so many summertime centrepieces.
I imagine you know the drill already. But FWIW: thinly sliced discs of courgette can and should be briefly fried in olive oil, colouring a little, before then being seasoned and cooked at a low temperature with a lid on — so they essentially steam themselves while softening; cook-off a little of the excess liquid, add soft herbs, consider something acidic; then drown the soft and sticky but still discernibly courgette-like mass with olive oil; and (ideally) leave them to cool and rest so the flavour becomes more pronounced, the texture more pleasing.
You’ll see and have probably tried something akin to this stirred through pasta or cooked white beans. Or as a starter/small plate, perhaps underneath or flecked with a sharp cheese, or something more depressingly instagramable, such as burrata.
Try them as a side dish, though. White fish, pink fish, grilled/barbecued oily fish (such as mackerel or sardines) are spot on. Chicken, lamb, some fennel-seed laced sausages. Also consider next to a cheesy quiche, or as a partner for a puff tart or short crust galette. Don’t forget poached or soft boiled eggs, like these. Alongside: beans, tomatoes, rocket (arugula) or other salad leaves.
The method is loose and adaptable, but I like it done this way, and using (more or less) these measurements: