braised courgettes with mozzarella
For me, courgettes are the most delicious of the cucumber family of vegetable fruits. They appeared in France only about 100 years ago, just after the First World War, known then as courgettes d’Italie, referring to their country of origin. It was Elizabeth David who introduced courgettes to England, back in the 1950s.
There was a time when my kids, despite having been brought up vegetarian and being otherwise relatively broadminded, just would not countenance courgettes. One summer evening I rebelled, and covertly made a courgette soufflé with lots of lovely parmesan cheese while they were playing in the garden. It smelled delicious when I brought it to the table with aplomb, announcing it as ‘yummy soufflé’. Everyone tucked in with delight and had second helpings. By the time I owned up later that evening courgettes had, happily, won their rightful place on the menu!
These recipe, topped with melting mozzarella and served with a coarse, tangy tapenade, can be made in advance and heated up for serving. Just leave out the mozzarella, and add it after warming up the courgettes, before flashing the pan under the grill.
SERVES 4–6
1.5 kg courgettes
5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic, cut into slivers
135ml white wine
Salt and freshly ground pepper
200g buffalo mozzarella, sliced
For the tapenade:
90g stoned black olives, chopped
1 teaspoon capers, chopped
2 tablespoons basil, chopped
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
Cut the courgettes into chunky pieces. (I like to roll them as I cut them, to get interestingly varied shapes.) Put the olive oil into a flame proof casserole (one that has a lid) set over a low heat. Add the courgettes and turn up the heat to high. Cook for 5–10 minutes, stirring as little as you dare to allow the pieces of courgette to take on some colour. Once they started to brown a little, reduce the heat to medium and push the courgettes to the edges of the pan.
Add the garlic slivers to the oil in the centre of the pan and let them fry a little until starting to turn pale gold, stirring now and then. Add the white wine, stir everything together and season well. Reduce the heat to low and cover the pan. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the courgettes are tender and considerably reduced in size, about 20 minutes. If you like, you can break down any bigger pieces of courgette with a spoon.
(If you’re making this in advance, pause your preparations at this point and allow the courgettes to cool before refrigerating them. Before serving, warm the pan of courgettes back up to serving temperature and proceed as follows.)
Preheat your overhead grill to a medium setting. Meanwhile, prepare the tapenade by mixing together the olives, capers, basil, oil and vinegar, and set aside in a small serving bowl
Spread the sliced mozzarella over the hot courgettes and grill until golden brown and melted.
Serve with the dish of tapenade, so diners can add a little to their serving of courgettes.