Right now, courgettes are bang in season in the UK – at their best during the summer and early autumn months, these delicately flavoured veggies are well worth enjoying. Forget chunks of bland ratatouille vegetables, courgettes are incredibly versatile, shaved into salads, grated into cheesy fritters, baked into pasta traybakes or frittatas, and don’t forget their flowers stuffed with oozy ricotta. We’ve rounded up some of our favourite summery courgette recipes from Ottolenghi and Nigella, Jamie Oliver and Smitten Kitchen’s Deb Perelman to name a few.
Courgette, Ricotta and Dill Tart with Spelt-rye Pastry
This deep tart, filled with courgettes, peas, ricotta and buttermilk, pairs perfectly with this spelt and rye wholemeal pastry. With zesty lemon, dill and capers, this is a bright celebration of summer.
From the book
The New Vegetarian
A beautiful collection of vegetarian recipes
Inspiration for midweek cooking and weekend feasts
Fresh, flavourful recipes for every meal of the day
Yotam Ottolenghi’s Courgette and Ciabatta Frittata
An extra light and fluffy frittata, made by soaking ciabatta in milk and cream and teamed with with cumin and basil courgettes. Luxurious enough for a weekend brunch or an any-night dinner.
Yellow and Green Courgettes with Feta, Mint and Almonds
This is an incredibly easy salad or side and a lovely way to champion both green and yellow courgettes. Shaving your courgettes into ribbons or very finely slicing them into rounds and leaving them to soften and ‘cook’ in lemon juice and olive oil is a great way to eat courgettes raw. Serve just as it is with bread or as a side to chicken or fish.
Roasted Aubergine, Courgette and Macaroni Bake
A comforting dish, this traybake dinner with roasted courgettes, aubergine, creamy Boursin cheese and macaroni pasta is a good family all-rounder for midweek.
Pasta with Courgettes
‘This is one of my favourite pastas’, says Nigella who braises the courgettes with wine and parsley until sweet and gorgeously tender. Don’t be put off by the notion of braising – this takes about 15 minutes to prepare all in all.
Courgette Ribbons with Almond Pesto
The pesto dressing makes this dish sing with almonds, Parmesan, garlic, red pepper flakes and olive oil. Tossed through delicate shavings of raw courgette, this simple salad is wonderful in its own right.
Lemon Courgette Linguine
Courgettes are good friends with the sharp zing of lemon, the umami savour of Parmesan and fresh, sweet mint. Here Jamie has paired them with pasta in this five ingredient weeknight dinner.
Ottolenghi’s Courgette and Manouri Fritters
Courgettes lend themselves well to fritters, grated and flavoured here with lime, ground coriander and cardamom. Here manouri cheese is used – a Greek, semihard, creamy ewe’s milk cheese. If you can’t get hold of it, Ottolenghi recommends using feta or halloumi instead. Serve up with homemade lime and cardamom soured cream.
Deep-Fried Courgette Flowers Stuffed with Ricotta and Herbs
Stuffed with ricotta and herbs and fried in a light batter, this creamy, luxurious starter is a classic Italian way of serving delicate courgette flowers. Courgette flowers wilt quickly so they can be tricky to get hold of although they are becoming more widely available. If you grow your own, then this is the perfect way to use them.
Tian Provençal (Provençal Vegetable Bake)
This pretty dish consists of thin rounds of courgette, aubergine and tomatoes, arranged on sweet thyme onions, and baked in the oven. Enjoy with buttery potatoes.
