Courgettes.
“The courgettes have a very delicate taste”
- Larousse Gastronomique
In England known by their French name – courgette – and in the US by their Italian name – zucchini – these are baby or “immature” marrows, and one of the gentlest and easiest foods in the world to digest.
So delicate in taste and texture – and so often recommended as baby food – courgettes are packed with potassium, vitamin C and folic acid and high in fibre and low in calories.
The gentle symbol of the Mediterranean summer: courgettes are in season from June to October, just like tomatoes, but don’t form part of the aggravating nightshade family (tomatoes, aubergines, peppers and potatoes).
Enormously versatile and almost impossible to dislike, this is a vegetable almost without a most fault.
Courgettes can be eaten raw or cooked, boiled or baked, stuffed or grilled or fried; as a main course or side dish, prepared as a protagonist or combined together with other ingredients. Their gentle nature makes them play well with other ingredients, whether vegetables, herbs, grains or proteins. They combine beautifully with basil, eggs, salmon, cheese, parsley, garlic, ham, tomato, mint, white fish, leeks, tarragon, anchovies, thyme, prawns, rosemary and potatoes, pine nuts, mustard, lemon, beetroot, olives
As with most vegetables, the smaller (and younger) they are, the more flavourful they will be. Water is diluting, so the more compact and less irrigated, the more delicious and tasty. Look for firm vegetables with shiny and smooth skins. Old recipe books recommend peeling, but this is not necessary these days. Simply trim the ends before cutting them into the shape required by your recipe.
Courgette flowers are even more delicate – and can be eaten raw in a salad, sauted in a pasta or stuffed with ricotta or mozzarella and anchovies in deep-fried in batter.
And the very baby courgettes are best eaten raw, also in salad or pasta, or used to top a soup or frittata.
The simplest, gentlest way to eat courgettes is to boil them, as they do in Greece, and serve sprinkled with wild oregano and a pool of olive oil. You will need quality, flavour packed courgettes for this, so that the results are not too watery. The most common way in Italy is to grill them and serve with olive oil. This is an excellent side dish for fish.
Raw recipes include combining with summer herbs such as basil and mint, and dressing with olive oil and lemon: try the courgettes shredded this way. Or try a carpaccio: you might also add beetroot, for something striking.
Courgetti and fritti need no introductions: these are more popular outside of Italy. Within Italy popular tasty preparations include fritters (also found in Greece, where Parmesan is substituted for feta or vinegar) and the escabece or agrodolce: where fried zucchini is marinated in a vinegary or vinegar and sugar dressing, together with herbs such as mint.
More elaborate Mediterranean recipes include stuffed zucchini (with rice, or meats or anchovies) or the Parmigiana, made with zucchini instead of aubergine: this is an exceedingly memorable dish.
Soups, frittatas, quiches, flans and tarts are all improved with zucchini. Combine together with your spring or summer vegetables of choice. The young, baby courgettes are particularly delicious in these preparations: use them at the very end (e.g. in minestrone or a frittata) so that they retain some of their crunch.
Pasta is of course one of the courgette’s best bed fellows: combined with cheese and an egg yolk, either in the famed Pasta alla Nerano or a veggie Carbonara (where courgettes replace guanciale). Or cook with salmon or mackerel, for a warm or ambient pasta dish or salad.
Other very gentle combinations include combining courgettes with potatoes or rice – these make very comforting dishes (also for sensitive tummies) and bases for other more elaborate preparations.
No talk of courgette can be complete without mentioning the ratatouille, a delicious medley of the best of Mediterranean vegetables, of which the courgette is a key harmoniser. Dating back to 1877, the secret to a good ratatouille is the same as other dishes that comprise different vegetables, such as the fritteda or caponata: each vegetable must be cooked separately, so that each retains its own flavour and quality, to be then subsequently combined.
