Cooking with Courgettes: Garden Glut to Gloriously Good Food

Late summer is courgette season (or zucchini, for our friends across the pond.) If you’re a veg gardener it’s likely that your you have a glut of these in your fridge right now. But there’s no need to be over whelmed  because we’re here with some delicious and different recipes to use up your courgette haul.

Versatile and quick to cook courgettes are equally at home in both savoury and sweet dishes. While they can be capable of multiplying faster than you can eat them, there’s no need to panic because they can be enjoyed in so many ways.

Courgettes are mild in flavour, which means they’re like they are a bit of a blank canvas. You can grill them, bake them, spiralise them into “zoodles,” or even turn them into a cake (yes, really). They’re low in calories, high in fibre, and packed with vitamin C and potassium.

Picking the Perfect Courgette

• Size matters — smaller courgettes are tender and sweet, while larger ones (can be great for stuffing but sometimes need the seeds scooped out.

5 Delicious ways to cook with courgettes

1. Carrot and Courgette Cake

   We’ve all heard of carrot cake but carrot and courgette cake is a step up. Deliciously moist and sweet, it’s a great way to use up a glut of homegrown courgettes.

2. Summer Veg Soup

   This soup is a great way to use up a glut of seasonal summer vegetables like courgettes. Make a huge batch and freeze it in portions for later in the year.

3. Courgette and carrot spiralized salad
   Raw spiralized courgette, grated carrot and sliced red onion make for a really exciting salad that’s packed full of flavour.

4. Spicy courgette, carrot and coriander soup
   A simple twist on a classic soup. Carrot and courgette make a delicious flavour combination for this fresh and healthy soup.

5. Nasi Goreng – Indonesian fried rice

   This yummy fried rice dish is great way to use up courgettes and pack in those fresh veggies along with loads of flavour.
   

How to keep courgettes fresh

Store them in the fridge, and try to use them within a week. If your glut is too much to handle, slice and freeze them for soups and stews later in the year. Or, if you are truly overwhelmed, leave a box by your garden gate with a “FREE - Help Yourself” sign.