I’ve been mucking about with courgettes of late. One way of making them more interesting is to scorch them by blackening the skins under a grill or over a bbq.
I charred some courgettes – had some left over- so made a dip or sauce to go with pasta. Both dishes were great but the pasta sauce was incredible – summer on a plate. This is a fantastic way of adding vegetables to a children’s meal as all kids love pasta–my granddaughter calls it ‘staba’, pig latin is part of her journey in learning how to speak.
Feta dip with charred courgettes and rocket
Scorch and blacken the skins under a grill or on a bbq. You could also dry roast the courgettes on a gas stove either over the bare flame or on a suitable dry pan. I add the courgettes while they are still slightly warm to the dish – I love that cold, warm combination.You can easily make this vegan. I did a version with Violife's vegan feta, replace the milk and yoghurt with plant milk and yoghurt.
Serves 4
Ingredients
- 2 courgettes, washed, whole
- 400 g feta cheese
- 3 tbsp yoghurt
- 3 tbsp milk
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 lemon, zest and juice
- handful pumpkin seeds
- 100 g rocket
- Olive oil, I used Pomora's lemon olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Scorch the courgettes turning them over regularly with tongs. If they still aren't soft enough in the middle you can pop them in the oven for half an hour. You want them mildly blackened but not overdone. I use the skins as I like the smokey taste, reminiscent of baba ghanoush, but you could just use the insides. Once cooked, you can either rip up the courgettes into strips or mash with a fork until a paste.
- Crumble up the feta, adding the yoghurt, milk and garlic into a blender, Blend until smooth.
- Add lemon juice, olive oil, pepper.
- Ladle the feta mixture onto a plate, then add the rocket, then the courgettes. Sprinkle with pumpkin seeds, more olive oil, more lemon if needed, and sea salt. Eat with warm crusty bread.
Pasta shells with a charred courgette sauce
I made too much of the dip (I actually used 3 courgettes rather than 2 as specified in the recipe above) so I repurposed it to make a pasta sauce. It was refreshing and tasty.
Serves 2
Ingredients
- 2 courgettes
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 lemon, juice and zest
- scoop yoghurt, optional
- olive oil
- salt and pepper
- 200 g pasta shells
- 100 g freshly grated parmesan or pecorino
Instructions
- Scorch the courgettes by blackening them under a grill, on the stovetop or on the bbq until soft inside. If your heat is too high, you might end up with no flesh inside. If this is the case, finish the cooking of the interior of the courgettes by putting them in the oven for 15 or 20 minutes.
- Once cooked, blend the courgettes with the garlic, olive and lemon juice, salt and pepper, adding the yoghurt if using.
- Cook the pasta until al dente, making sure the water is adequately salted and drain.
- Mix the pasta and the courgette sauce together adding the parmesan. Serve hot.
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